


All Our Best Mistakes

by jprongs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Bisexual Sirius Black, F/F, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Hogwarts Era, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Minor Character Death, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Partners, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:35:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 82,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5812252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jprongs/pseuds/jprongs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chronicling the sixth and seventh years of the Marauders and Lily. Told from the perspectives of Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily in turn. Things are awkward between Remus and Sirius, but neither will admit it out loud to one another or anyone else - even though everyone else has pretty much figured it out. James and Lily finally form a friendship, but can't figure out where to go from there and the rest of Gryffindor is sick of hearing about it. On top of the normal teenage angst is the war brewing with people they know dying and trying to decipher who they are and where they fit into everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter has all four POVs, just to introduce everyone. Afterwards it will be one POV per chapter rotating in order. James, Remus, Lily, and then Sirius. This is a WIP, but I already have over 80k words written. I'll try to update every Sunday. Comments and reviews are absolutely golden. Also, feel free to check out my tumblr, jprongsx.

“If McGonagall catches us again, we’re fried, mate.”

“Pish Posh, Prongs. I’m feeling a bit malnourished and you look like you’re gonna be sick after Evans called you… what did she call you again?” At 3am, Sirius was still laughing about an altercation between what he was sure would be Hogwarts’ next power couple.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Bring on the cakes. I feel like emotional eating.”

James was his best mate and all, but there were just times he was fucking high maintenance.

“Pull the rag out and get on with it. You start with the ones over there.” Throwing the cloak off of them so they didn’t just look like the occasional severed ankle, Sirius Black shook his black tousles around like the lion’s mane it was. “I want to get these tiles sticky before the first soddin’ lot bumbles out of the dungeon. It’s only funny if we catch the stragglers as well.”

“All this chit chat and we’re going to be the ones in a sticky situation.” James kicked the cloak to the side and pulled out a wine bottle full of something taupe and thick like molasses

The two sixteen year olds dumped the contents in front of the entrance to the Slytherin common room, waved their wands around a bit to smooth it and high fived at their handywork.

“Moony is going to be so annoyed he missed this. Just think, the poor bloke is spending his prime Friday evening patrolling like the good ol’ prefect he is. Let’s steal his badge tomorrow and watch him tear the dormitory apart!”

“Sirius Black, you absolute bastard. Why would we ever do such a terrible thing to such a precious creature?”

“Because he’s about as precious as the sock between your mattress and headboard.”

“Oi! Privacy is a golden thing, mate. I have to keep up the-”

Footsteps were echoing around the corner, so without another word James slid the empty bottle back into his robes and the two ducked under the invisibility cloak and traipsed down the hall towards the kitchens so James could get his sugar binge on and spend two hours moaning over the same redhead he had been for five years.

 

* * *

 

 

He was absolutely knackered after completing his rounds that he just wanted to collapse at the Gryffindor table into a bowl of porridge and an enormous cuppa. Instead, he was alerted that there was an issue by the dungeons. He flipped a sickle with Frank Longbottom as to who had to go check, but when they heard some choice words, neither could resist a peak.

Remus Lupin knew the talent before him before he even had to take a second look. “Bloody stupid toerags.” He flung his head back and patted his robes for anything to pour on the floor and dissolve the gooey gluey substance keeping seven groggy-eyed Slytherins stuck to the floor from the soles of their shoes down.

“Lupin! Oi! LUPIN!” At least Sirius would be mildly amused that his own flesh and blood had been caught up in the mockery. “Get this shit off my shoes rather than just stand there before I tell Slughorn that two house prefects are absolutely useless!”

Remus and Frank exchanged looks before checking who’d actually won the sickle toss. “Sorry, mate. I’ve got a condition where if I start to care when I don’t need to I just get this itch. Can’t explain it. Better luck next time.”

He turned on his heel while listening to the threats of violence that followed him a little ways until the noise was replaced with the small crowd of sounds coming from breakfast. He un-pinned his badge and slid it in his pocket so that if prompted, he could claim he was off duty and didn’t see a thing. Considering he constantly looked morbidly ill, feining a mild headache or some nausea was an easy fix for not dealing with a problem that would take up too much of his time. Plus, James and Sirius probably spent a whole ten minutes creating the trap prank.

His 7am tea was warm and filling, but he stirred a couple pinches of his own special “blend” into the mug. Bit of chamomile among other things. It soothed his inner beast.

A good twenty minutes later, he heard what he would’ve passed off as the wind if it hadn’t slapped him in the back with a book, knocked off his reading glasses and made his tea tip over onto his book. “Mate, the tea. That was just wrong. You don’t spill a bloke’s tea, ‘specially not at breakfast! What s’matter with you?”

Regulus Black stood as tall as his pointy toed shoes would let him now that the bottom layer still remained in front of the dungeons. Remus wondered if he was aware that his own brother had put it there, but, alas, he turned around and stood, folding his reading glasses closed and glancing toward him with disappointment that could’ve been straight off of the Gryffindor Head of House herself.

“Lupin, you’re a filthy fucking bastard, you know that?”

“Your words... I’m astounded by their elegance. Do tell me again how vile I am.” Remus tutted, shrugged and then sat back down, wiping off his book with the edge of his sleeve and returning his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of reading about the troll wars to catch up on as you know, I’ve been, ahem,” he coughed, “very ill and unable to attend as many lectures as I would like this last week.”

Without turning, he could feel two other figures behind him. Remus had a good sense for what was around him and simply went back to what he had been doing previously.

 

* * *

 

 

“So did you see it, Moony? Were they peeling their shoes from the floor with spatulas?” James was rolling in his seat thinking about seven sleepy Slytherins that had just the worst morning stroll on the way to breakfast.

“I slipped out before I could actually be caught dealing with the fallout. Poor Frank got a few hexes in my absence, but that’s the game and he was aware when he took that sickle out of his trousers.” Remus was still nose in his book, acting nonchalant about yet another act of tomfoolery at the hands of his best mates.

“You were in who’s trousers?!” Sirius turned around from burning a hole in the back of his brother’s head and blinked a few times, trying to figure out the conversation again.

James continued to laugh harder, juice pushing it’s way out of the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, Pads, Moony here was off snogging with Longbottom. What’s gotten into you? The only trousers he’s getting into is his own, the prude. I don’t even think I’ve seem him actually look at anyone in a want-to-snog way since Dorcas Meadows last term. He’s probably some closet freak that-”

“Oi, enough about my non-existent sex life. I’m perfectly happy on my own. And I already have two children and a bloody red-headed step child to look after. I don’t need a relationship.”

Sirius looked perplexed, “But Peter’s blonde… oh, turn of phrase. Got it. Anyway. James and I went to the kitchen last night after his Lily-lashing and found Marlene off with-”

“And you call me the girl, you bloody gossip queen!” James scoffed, pretending to be offended before he stuffed an entire pumpkin muffin into his mouth. “Really though, McKinnon can do much better than Sturgis. Sirius, I thought you were staking that claim?”

Sirius raised an eyebrow, “Marlene has had more claims _staked_ in her than the other Gryffindor girls combined. Plus, it’s not exactly a conquest when her and I got to know the broom closet on the fourth floor very well last year. I need a good challenge.”

“Both of you! Don’t you have anything better to talk about? You’re a pair of girls.” Remus slammed his book shut and grabbed bacon off of Sirius’ plate.

Sirius went to grab his hand and snatch the bacon when their knuckles brushed together and both lads retreated, Remus with a thick slice of back bacon still in grip. James swatted at them both, taking the bacon for himself, and that was the end of the shop talk during breakfast as pumpkin and bacon were never meant to be mixed and his needed to go wash his mouth out.

They had potions with the Hufflepuffs first thing and James was sure that whatever it was they were supposed to have read, only Remus had actually studied and Sirius possibly looked at the chapter title. The walk there was interesting as everyone seemed to be angsty and on edge lately.

“Why don’t we just skive Potions today, boys. We’ll go taunt the giant squid over a that bottle that Sirius nicked from the nutter behind the bar at the Hog’s Head.” James was about begging for this as he really couldn’t be bothered to sit in a room and hear Slughorn drone on about the importance of wormwood and elixir of parsnip or whatever. His answer was almost always ‘fuck it, just throw one of those goat beans at your mate if he injests it’. To which he was normally given a few extra inches of coursework that night.

“You realize you do actually have to pass your NEWTS next year, right?” Remus scolded to him.

“Oh, is it someone’s time of month? Feeling a bit furrier in your nether regions? Shall I feel you for a fever, Moony?” James chided him, but Remus just laughed and ignored him as usual.

 

* * *

 

 

As usual, Professor Slughorn had told her that her work was very advanced for her age and she would give him a run for his money in due time. And like every other over the top compliment, she let herself blush and just shook her head. There was about an hour before Herbology, so she opted to stop back in the Common Room and sit in the dormer window for a bit enjoying the view.

Naturally just as she walked through the portrait hole, she could hear the howling laughter from the two most obnoxious members of the house. “Potter, if you use your diaphragm, maybe the Hufflepuffs could hear you in the kitchens.”

“Evans! Back for another round of my pride or do you just want to go ahead and find a nice, dark corner somewhere and have at it there?”

As she passed him by, she gave him a firm, full-palm slap to the side of his cheek and glared at Sirius, “Control your dog.”

This somehow was just fuel for them, something about James not being the dog. She didn’t know nor intend to care.

She flopped unceremoniously onto her favorite coushin and stretched, pulling the elastic out of her hair to let the curls flow like a cascade of crashing red waves. If James Potter was such a top bloke, then why did he insist on speaking to her as if he were a high street construction worker? It was tasteless of him and his crush on her had long grown old. If she wasn’t so clever, one might think she’d need to start reusing her comebacks.

“Lily! You got this at breakfast, but you’d already left, so I just brought it for you!” Marlene plopped down beside her and dropped an envelope into her lap. The blonde girl had her skirt pulled up very high on her waist with her shirt because she said it made her chest look larger. Lily didn’t think she needed any help in that department, but she did have a lot of the lads asking if she needed anything carried for her.

“Oh, thanks. Probably my mum updating me on all things in the muggle world. One of my aunts has probably had another baby or gotten a third divorce. You know how it goes.”

“I think if I do get married, I want to a few times. Marry once for fun, once for money, and then when I’m older and done messing about, I can marry for love. Maybe. If I ever get married, that is.” She preened with large white teeth and a subtly sinister grin. “Maybe this summer once I can apparate I can find a nice ministry guy who’s wound a bit too tight at work and needs to be unraveled-”

“And that’s enough for me, Marlene. Too much graphic detail and you start drooling like Potter.”

“He only acts that way around you. He’s fine with the rest of us girls.” Marlene winked at her, forcing her to cover her face in embarrassment

 

* * *

 

 

Herbology had to be one of his better subjects. As long as he moved the dirt around a bit every time the Professor looked up, Sirius could get an O and never actually plant a damn thing. And then he’d just reword Remus’ papers for the rest.

They had to pick partners and since there was only three of them, (Peter had failed miserably for his Herbology OWLS and couldn’t take it this year) Sirius quickly claimed Remus and shoved James towards Lily, winking at her with a thumbs up.

“Alright, Moony, tell me you know what we’re supposed to be doing.”

Remus smiled at him, “I think this will work the best if you just hold open the book for me and I’ll do the dirty work.”

“And this is why I love you!” He’d said that a bit loud and Remus was looking up at him wide eyed before shaking his head. “You just make everything simple and easy. Oh, what time do you want to head down tonight? I was thinking like sixish, that way we can just stuff our pockets in case a certain wolfy gets hungry and needs a treat. If you promise to pee on the paper, I’ll even give you my chocolate digestives.

Hands full of dirt, Remus looked up at him and then flicked a pinch of soil at him. “I like you better as a shaggy black dog. You’re quieter.”

“Low blow, mate!” He put a hand over his heart and acted out being stabbed, taking it to the extreme and drawing attention.

“The point of you holding the book is so it stays still, doesn’t get dirty and I can actually see it. Stop being overdramatic and be useful.” Remus rolled his eyes, obviously a bit more irritable than usual as tonight he’d be cooped up in a shack.

Sirius kept the book in his right hand and fingered through his hair with the other, glancing around the room to see if anyone was looking. “Really, I want to go a bit early.”

“Mmhm, got it, Sirius. Trying to concentrate here.”

“No. I want to go _early.”_

He stood up straight and glared at him, “What is with you today? You’re just all over the place! And what was the whole thing about at breakfast?”

“Mate, you started that. You went to grab it off my plate and it was a reaction. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Christ, I mentioned a bloody coin toss and you immediately shouted about me getting into Frank Longbottom’s trousers. You’re starting to act like James and it’s not suiting you.”

Defeated, Sirius held the book and watched Remus pot whatever and the hell it was they were working on, turning the page back and forth as instructed. Talking to girls was easy. Talking to Remus was like trying to practice legilimency sometimes. He’s was never here nor there, or anywhere for that matter. Occasionally Sirius debated if Remus would just forever be a insufferable, dry-witted twat for all eternity. The thought annoyed him, so he reached over and swatted James’ glasses straight off his face - which forced him to fumble his book into the potting soil and it sunk like quicksand.

 

* * *

 

 

At the moment James felt like a cooped up animal, struggling to deal with outside current events and fumbling over his words with the same girl as always. He watched out the dormitory window as she walked along the grounds with fucking Snape, again. They were quite obviously arguing. Stupid git didn’t deserve to even speak to Lily. James knew what he was into, the kind of people he mixed with. And to think, he’d been behaving himself lately when it came to the slimeball just to try and appease certain people.

He needed to stop this nonsense and get off with one of the Ravenclaw girls or something. They were normally all mouth and no trousers, but after a bit of firewhiskey, they’d follow you into the first closet that came up. Yeah, maybe that’s what he needed. Then he could shake this whole Lily thing off again. She was like a sickness to him, coming and going in waves. What he didn’t get was how she could be best friends with Remus, swap late night secrets and cry on Sirius’ shoulder, yet she couldn’t even stand the sight of him. It was as if his gaze created boils up her arms or something.

“Get out of your head, James. You coming down for dinner?” Sirius clapped his back and threw his jacket over his shoulder like something out of Witch Weekly. The boy was so perfect in the eyes of the female population that he could just smile at someone. Plus, he was all rebellious being kicked out of his family’s house. He was the sob story that every teenage girl thinks she can fix. It was his angle, but he wasn’t using it as much lately.

“Nah, mate. I ate too much at lunch and I still have a few other things I need to do before later. I’ll meet you down there though.”

He threw the invisibility cloak over himself just to avoid dealing with anyone at the moment. Instead he wanted to disobey Sirius’ poor excuse for an order and sit with himself, his thoughts, and a good smoke.. Once he was under a shady spot by the lake, he pulled out his tobacco and rolling papers.

On the other side of the lake, he saw someone walking with their hood up towards the boat house. The legs though… That was Lily. He stood, inhaling smoke before walking in the same direction. He caught up just to find her sitting on the edge of one of the benches with her head in her hands.

“You alright, Evans?”

“I’m _fine,_ Potter. Just go away.” Her cheeks were stained with a bit of her make up, so he took that as an invitation to sit down.

“No, really. You’ve been crying.” He tried to hold the cigarette away from her and not be so rude as to have it choke her to death.

Lily turned and looked over at him, her brilliant green eyes red from tears. She gave him a once over and then rolled her eyes, “What the hell, stay if you must. I can’t be bothered to argue with you as well.” She reached over his lap and snatched the cigarette from his outstretched hand.

James felt a chill and a twitch in his trousers before just freezing completely, “You smoke?”

“No, but tonight I do.” She inhaled once and then her eyes narrowed and she coughed, seemingly unable to stop.

James took it back away from her, snuck one last bit, and then flicked it into the water. He chuckled softly, “I won’t be your bad influence, sorry.”

“Why not? You’re the rebel rich boy who’s all sorts of perfect and everyone either adores or hates you and your… stupid hair.”

“Lily Evans, have you been drinking?” He scoffed, running a hand through his hair quickly, just in case it did actually look stupid.

“Marlene had wine in her room and she was off not being able to tell where her mouth ended and… what’s-his-face’s began. I can’t keep her string of boys straight anymore.”

“So, do you adore or hate me?”

“Both. Neither. I don’t fucking know.”

James was in shock. Never had he seen her so unravelled. “Don’t make me full name you again, but you’re swearing tonight, too? Merlin’s stubborn curly one, Evans. You sure McKinnon isn’t rubbing off on you?!”

Lily pushed him, but only succeeded in knocking herself off the bench. She rolled onto her knees before reaching for him to help her up. He stood and went to pull her up, but she toppled and tripped them both, falling right onto his chest.

He didn’t know what to do. This was new territory for him, well, not with girls, those he’d done a lot worse with in the boathouse, but with Lily, never so much as shook his hand before. “What’s going on, Lily?”

She pushed herself up with a hand on either side of his chest, but remained there. “You ever have one of those days where family makes you feel like you’re less than pond scum?”

No, really, he didn’t. His parents were magnificent and the relatives that saw them as blood traitors and the lot never spoke to him, so he had a pretty freaking supportive family. “Not family, but you know, you on occasion.” She looked about to cry again, so he put a hand to her chin, “I’m joking, really. But, I’ve seen Sirius go through a lot.”

She swallowed back tears and nodded, “Yeah, he and I have talked a lot about it.”

“I know.”

“And I tried to speak to Severus because he’s met my sister -” She had a sister? “But, he was agitated and we argued. And I yelled at him more than I should’ve, but it still didn’t give him the right to call me a Mudblood.”

James slid his hand to her cheek, sitting up a bit and resting on his other elbow. “He called you that? That greasy, beaked bastard. Hey, look at me. You’re the smartest witch in our year and you outshine whoever you’re next to. Never let someone speak to you that way.” He was plotting how he was going to hex him into oblivion.

“You really think that?” Her face softened a bit.

“Absolutely. No one else in our year, or even the school, has anything on you.” James tried to read her and figure out what was going on, but before he could, she just pushed her forehead to his and kissed him.

 

* * *

 

 

The Shrieking Shack was a lopsided, boarded up, old, vacant home that was there solely for the purpose of his monthly problem. Remus threw his bag into the room with the deadbolt on the door and ran his hands threw his hair. He took off his glasses, letting his robe slide off and fall onto the floor. He could hear Sirius banging around in the other room, and he didn’t really need to come this early with him. Remus would’ve been fine on his own. He caught a glance at himself in the mirror. He was thin, boney, scarred, and pale. He wouldn’t have the worst of it tonight, but he would still change.

Sirius walked up behind him, and he could see his black hair, strong jaw, and nearly perfect male specimen of a figure. “How are you doing so far?”

“Like my spine is going to twist clear out of my body. I probably have about an hour before the bones start breaking. Where’s the firewhiskey?” Remus winced and slowly sat on the shabby, torn up couch. He took the firewhiskey from Sirius, but ignored the glass, instead just popping the cork and chucking it wherever. “You should probably go ahead now just in case though. Where the fuck are James and Peter?”

“No, I’ll be fine for a bit.” Sirius sat down beside him, and then grabbed the bottle away from him.

The wolf in Remus growled low as the bottle was snatched away, “The hell, mate?”

“Go easy on it. Don’t want you crashing down the stairs and concussing yourself again. Did you drink your tea?”

He appreciated Sirius’ genuine concern. He was just trying to be a good friend. “Really, Padfoot, you know I hate it when you lot cut it close. I’ll give you belly rubs or something, I dunno.” Putting his hands on the edge of the couch, doubling over in pain, he regretted his previous decision.. “Maybe the firewhiskey isn’t a good idea. You’re right. It’s making me feel ill.”

As he was clenching his fists, he felt Sirius’ hand over his. “C’mon mate, it’s not a smart idea right now.”

The touch was electric though. Remus relaxed a bit and lay back against the wood slats. He leaned into his best friend, letting his head rest into his shoulder as Sirius came closer, rubbing his back as if he could tell exactly where everything hurt. He was so tense and couldn’t understand how Sirius was able to have such fluid movements and calm body language. Normally if anyone came early with Remus, it was Sirius, and this is one of the reasons why. James spent the whole time rambling on about all sorts of things that he just didn’t care about before he was ready to turn into a bloodthirsty fiend. Peter was about as useful as a sausage roll. He was a fucking ball of nerves and as much as Remus loved him to pieces, he had an unhealthy idolization with James and Sirius for their coolness.

The other reason that lately the two of them came down together, sometimes when they didn’t even need to, was the unexplainable whatever this was.

“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a twat today. I’ve snapped at you a couple times.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I get it.”

His hair was starting to stick to his forehead with sweat, and Sirius pushed his sandy blonde hair back and tucked as much of it behind his ear. At eleven years old, this was the same boy who pushed Nott down the stairs for calling him a string of names. By twelve, he was sitting up in bed with him on sleepless nights reading muggle comic books or talking about their fucked up home lives. When they were in fourth year was the first time Sirius walked down with him and sat on this couch, arms around him while he cried in agony. The whole time he just told him that everything would be alright. Last year he, Peter, and James surprised him with their full animagi transformations and everything became so much better for his quality of life.

“Sirius, they’ll be here any minute.”

Over the summer holidays, Remus came to the Potter's house and stayed the night in Sirius’ room. They woke up at sixteen mildly hungover after a long night and arms entwined from sleep. Everything had become awkward and complicated from there. Sirius had actually faked going off for a snog for a few hours and sat in the broom closet listening to the Weird Sisters just so he didn’t raise any suspicion by not sniffing out anything with their skirt too short for a while.

“And they have a few flights of very creaky stairs to climb.”

He wasn’t even sure what was going on or if they were both experiencing the same thing. And right now that tension lingered. It was an electrical charge going through them, and it was a constant hippogriff in the room that they just ignored.

Remus was still stuck in his head to avoid the present. He hated the anticipation and waiting for his body to just make the tamping transformation already.

 

* * *

 

 

Lily crumbled the letter up and threw it into the fire. Most people were already in the Great Hall for dinner, but she couldn’t handle that right now. She stomped up into the dormitory and yanked Marlene’s trunk out from under her bed, grasping for the bottle of wine. Normally Lily didn’t drink, but this was occasion enough for her.

She sat on the bed with the bottle, pried it open, breaking a nail in the process, holding back tears. Next thing she knew, the bottle was empty and it was dark outside. Lily stood, shaking a bit and saw the pictures of her family. She put a hand to her mouth and swatted the frames to the ground, letting them shatter.

And of all ways that Petunia could have let her know, she had to just be _Petunia_ about it, somehow finding a way to blame Lily being a ‘freak’ and making her actually somewhat believe it. She needed to speak with McGonagall… but now she’d been drinking, so that was out of the question, at least for the night.

Halfway to the Great Hall she heard someone yell her name and in order to avoid any confrontations where she would have to admit that yes, she, Lily Evans, had a moment of weakness. “Yep, I’m great, thanks!”

_Great, stairs. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step, shit, Lily, get it together._

She was so busy looking at her feet that she didn’t notice Severus Snape coming up and put a hand on each arm.

“Lily, what’s going on?” He searched her face for answers, but she just laughed at him.

Two weeks and he hadn’t even spoken to her, and now he was concerned? “Hilarious, Sev. Since when do you care about anything other than your Slytherin mafia or whatever?”

He locked arms with her and led her outside. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble. You smell like Marlene McKinnon.”

“It was her wine I drank! How funny. When did you get funny?” She giggled, sitting down in the damp grass.

He sat down next to her and prompted her more for what happened and she broke down and confided.

“I’m sorry, Lily. Petunia has always been an awful, jealous bitch though.”

“You don’t have the right to say that anymore!”

This went on for nearly an hour until Lily finally snapped at him and shoved him.

Severus’ face went stern. “I was trying to help you and be a good friend.”

“We haven’t been friends in years, you arse. Be honest with yourself. Do you even know anything I’ve done lately? How my summer holidays went? What I’m doing for Christmas?”

“Well, that will change, you can come to mine.”

“Fuck off, I’d rather go home with Potter than with you at this point. All the disgusting people you associate with. They’re bad people, Severus Snape. You’re going down a dark road.”

Anger flashed in his eyes, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Do!”

He grabbed her by the arms and held her steady, “They value loyalty and you wouldn’t understand that. You’re not from the wizarding world. These are the connections you need these days, but you wouldn’t understand.”

“So you’re gonna run off and be all about blood status? Yeah, I’ve seen your journal. ‘Half-Blood Prince’, more like Cold-Blooded Coward if you ask me.” She tore herself away from him and went to turn towards the entrance to the castle.

“You’re just a mudblood anyway-”

“How dare you!” Lily’s face was fixed into shock and horror, “Don’t touch me, and don’t ever speak to me again.”

“Lily! I didn’t mean it!”

She kept walking off and when he tried to follow her, she shot a hex backwards at him. Maybe she missed, maybe she hit him, but he finally stopped apologizing and coming after her.

The boathouse was chilly by the water, but at least no one could see her. Well, until James Potter and his perfectly stupid hair waltzed in like James Dean, cigarette hanging from his lip.

“You alright Evans?”

And now she had fallen on top of him half drunk, choked on a cigarette and made an arse out of herself. And of all people to see her like this it had to be James fucking Potter. He was the marmite of Gryffindors and thus far she had been on the side of detesting.

He was being so nice to her though. Sweet, even. Potter was actually concerned for her, he had honest feelings and empathy. She found herself staring at his bottom lip. It was indented from him biting it sometime during the day, but it still looked soft. And his glasses had fallen onto the bridge of his nose, unruly black hair sticking out in every way. And he was so gentle.

But, this was James Potter.

Against her better judgement, Lily gave into her impulse of being so close and vulnerable and put a hand on his chest, pushed her forehead into his and went for it. He seemed to jump, as if her lips had temporarily electrocuted him. She just slid closer to his chest as he sat up. He was hesitant and she could feel his breath through the kiss even though she was a bit foggy.

“Lily… wait…” James murmured, trying to keep her still for a minute.

“Just shut up, James.” She put both arms around his neck and attempted to kiss him harder, like she needed it. After a bottle of wine, Lily didn’t care about coming up for air, but it was obvious James was uncomfortable. She probably looked as though she was trying to imitate the giant squid.

“No, stop. Not like this.” As he tried to slide out from under her, she tried to force him onto his back. “You’re upset and you’ve been drinking.” Then he used more force, and grabbed her wrists, pushing her back up onto her knees and away from him.

“What’s wrong? Am I that bad of a kisser?”

“On the contrary. And it’s not as if under different circumstances I would’ve have absolutely just let you… you know. But, Evans, you’re crying and you’re really upset.” He had that sad look of concern mixed with heavy breathing, so she tried again.

“No. Stop.” This time he sat up, then pushed her off and stood. “No. Five years of the back and forth dance we do and we’re not going to give in like this. Get up.”

“You’re an arse, James Potter!”

She balled her fists and swatted at his legs. Instead of just fucking off like she would’ve expected though, he picked her up and made her stand, shaking her shoulders while she began to cry again.

“Evans, you’re freaking me out here. What the hell is going on?”

Finally, as though he actually had managed to shake sense into her, she folded, falling into his chest. “It’s my parents....”

Immediately his eyes went soft, and he went from gripping her shoulders to rubbing them.

“My sister, who is a muggle and never sends me letters, sent me a letter. It happened last night and…” Lily suddenly felt very queasy, like eating your entire bag of Honeyduke’s Sweets before making it back to the castle plus walking in late to Transfiguration… naked. “My mum - she, um - Petunia said that when the other car - on the M5 coming back from London.”

And then she threw up on his shoes.

 

* * *

 

 

Sirius Black was the odd sod of the Black family, chucked out for not believing in their blood status bullshit. He was not prim and proper like Regulus, speaking the Queen’s English and so polite that it made him want to vomit. What had his mother done to Reg in the last four years? He went from wanting to be just like his older brother to being a despicable little shit who pushed muggleborns down the stairs for fun and praised the whispers of a dark movement. Sirius was disgusted with him.

The was part of the reason for the sticky floor potion that he and James had whipped up out of boredom. Now Mummy would have to buy Reggy new shoesies because he had to scrape his off the floor with a kitchen spatula. If only he could’ve seen it. Too bad it hadn’t gotten Snivellus as well. Stupid greasy git.

Sirius had been staying with the Potters over holidays for a year and there was very little that he didn’t tell his best mate - mostly because they spent about ninety five percent of their time together and were attached at the hip. And though they were so close and he loved him like they were blood, Sirius couldn’t bring himself to mention on tiny smidge of a detail to the Prat King of Devonshire. He very much enjoyed woman and the female anatomy, but there was something about his connection with their werewolf friend that gave him the same type of energy coursing through him.

Slowly they had been giving in to something here, a touch there, both waiting for the other to make a move or being afraid of rejection and ruined friendship. What was odd was that he had none of this sort of feeling towards James - and definitely not Peter.

But right then, holding Remus so he wasn’t alone in the short time before the other two Gryffindors came and before Remus’ bones began to break and transform him into a werewolf, he was lost in that strange, alien feeling. He pulled Remus over him, sensing he was holding back a bit. They just didn’t notice the creeky door open and shut or the pitter patter of James’ shoes, albeit covered in Lily sick, prancing up the stairs to say how he was a knight in shining armor.

They only realized when it was too late.

“Am I interupting?” James stood in the doorway whistling, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Normally they liked to keep this part of their friendship between a dog and his werewolf. James didn’t need to know how much he was there for Remus.

Remus froze, sliding off and his hands shaking slightly from nerves. “Hey, Prongs…”

Sirius on the other hand, stood, roughing up his hair and then clearing his throat before actually speaking. “We, uh…”

“You know, you could’ve just given me a heads up, or like… closed the door and put your tie on it. Dormitory rules, dickheads.”

Remus quickly interjected, being the much cooler one of the two of them, “It isn’t what you think, you arrogant prick. You tried having each of your bones break and not want a good cwtch every once in awhile.” He winked at him, “And I don’t see you lining up to massage my temples.”

And then he started cracking up laughing, proper belly laughing with his hands on his knees. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that this is the least crazy thing to happen tonight.”

This is not the reaction he expected. At all. He began laughing out of sheer nerves, and then within a minute they were all rolling with laughter, attempting to form half sentences and he couldn’t have asked for anything better. James Potter was a fucking saint.

“Where the fuck is Peter?” James wheeled around, perplexed. “He was supposed to be getting us a picnic basket from the kitchens.”

Like his ears were burning, they could hear Peter stumbling up the stairs, his blonde curls stuck to his face. “Anyone else know it’s bloody raining? Christ. Prongs, your ploughmans is pretty much a soggy mess. Apologies.” He tossed the sandwich at James and then pulled out a large bar of chocolate, “And for Moony, because even though he’s got an abnormal PMT, he still craves chocolate.”

“What a _girl._ ” Sirius chided, shoving him a bit. Instantly he felt bad though because he could see that it had actually hurt him. “Sorry, mate. Got carried away.”

“As per usual.” Remus snatched the bag of chocolate buttons away from Peter and finished them off happily in a matter of minutes. 


	2. Toderick Toadstool and The Drunken Ginger Prefect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which James merely wants to try and be a decent friend to Lily and she makes an arse out of him, so he decides to pull a stunt that only James Potter would just to talk to her. And then he proceeds to prove that he's awful at actually talking to people. Here's the moment Lily realizes there's more to that Potter boy than she'd ever thought to look for.

 

As far as full moons go, it was a pretty mild one. They’d wrestled Moony into the forbidden forest, Sirius had chased some birds (the feathered kind - Not girls), and Peter had gotten his head stuck in the hole of a large oak tree much to the enjoyment of the rest of the group. 

All of this being said, he still hadn’t told the rest of the group what the fuck had happened to him. He didn’t want to. At least not until he confronted the subject of the night’s insanity.

“Oi! Evans!” He shouted at her from across the common room, “A word, please?”

She narrowed her eyes to slits. “That was a word, Potter. Now excuse yourself and find someone else to moither.”

James walked over stood directly in front of her, Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon with no fear. If McKinnon threatened to castrate him, he could summon his shoes from last night as proof to back up his story while he told her about how Lily had attacked him with drunken lust like every other girl within a year of him had at one point or another - which the last part was a blatant lie, but she didn’t know that. “Evans, you know as well as I do you owe me a private conversation.”

“She owes you nothing, Potter! Piss off before I hex you until you vomit out your intestines.” Marlene stood, whipping her blonde hair behind her shoulder. “Lily is going through a lot. Her parents just  _ died _ for Merlin’s sake. You can lay off of tormenting her for a fucking day.”

Mary had to chime in as well, apparently. “Yeah, Potter. It’s a traumatic day and you’re not helping.”

“I’m sure the bottle of wine she downed last night didn’t help either. Or the amount she threw up between the boathouse and the common room, but you lot wouldn’t know about that half of it, would you?” As he spat at them, angry that they honestly thought he was trying to berate her right now, James shook his head in annoyance. “Didn’t think so, no. So why don’t you piss off back to snogging whoever will lift up your skirt first because I think Lily is still able to speak for herself. She’s grieving, not fucking mute.”

Marlene and Mary looked between Lily and James repeatedly, both stunned.

James knew that he’d been an arse, but he didn’t much care if those two had anything against him. “Evans, when you’re ready to have that chat, I’ll be off at the pitch. Suddenly I feel the need to blow off steam.” He nodded to her, “Sorry,  _ again _ , about your mum and dad. I’m here if you still need to talk.”

As he turned on his heel and walked off, he could hear them whispering to Lily in shock, asking her what in the hell was going on. Obviously either she didn’t remember or was too embarrassed by her actions to admit to them.

He stomped out of the common room, figuring he may as well go down to the pitch now - just in case she did fancy that chat. At least he could fly for a bit before Remus would be getting back from the hospital wing. They’d kept him from harming himself for the most part, which was great, but Madam Pomfrey still liked to keep him there most of the day drinking crazy concoctions.

It didn’t take long to get his broom from the locker rooms and kick off. Wind through his hair, and glasses charmed as not to fall off, James soared high above the ground. He could think much better this way. He circled the astronomy tower a few times, looking at all the very little people spotting the lawn in small groups. This was the best view of Hogwarts, by far. 

After she had thrown up on him and before he’d walked in on Sirius and Remus probably ready to shag each other in the moonlight like rabid dog - He snickered and wondered what dear Padfoot was up to today - possibly up someone’s skirt. Last he knew Sirius had been making his way through the Ravenclaw fifth years.

Before he’d caught them holding each other like some soppy romance novel, James had tied back Lily’s hair and let her get most of the wine out into a flower pot he’d found just outside the greenhouses. 

Resigning to getting her back to the castle before she passed out or something, James pulled her arm over his shoulder, holding her unbalanced ginger self up by walking with her against his side. “Alright, Evans, it’s bed time for you.”

“Bugger all. I’m not going to bed with you. You won’t even kiss me, you git.” Drunk Lily was getting testy, but was cooperating. “You’ve only asked me out over a couple dozen times just this year alone, so you’d think-”

“Ging, just quit while you’re ahead. I’m gonna be a perfect gentleman regardless of anything you say or as much as the bottom half of me disagrees with my decisions. Guess Remus has finally made an honest man out of me after all.” 

She giggled, “Remus is so sweet.”

“Oh yes, absolutely. He’s so sweet, a great listener, and his scars are so dreamy and mysterious. Plus, he can quote knobbish poetry and shyte without a second thought.” James rolled his eyes. “We’ve heard it all before, but he’s a bloody ponce. Isn’t interested in much of anyone.”

Drunk Lily leaned sideways onto him, placing her other hand to his chest. He wanted to jump out of his skin, find a solution to immediately sober her up and then take her up on her advances, but alas, he’d been after her too long. Just as he was getting into a comfortable walking rhythm though, she pushed away to throw up more, dropping onto her hands and knees by the lake.

“Bloody hell, Evans. You’re tiny, there is no way that much sick is coming out of you.” Five minutes later and she was rolling in the grass giggling to herself. He’d given up temporarily and rolled another cigarette while she wore herself out. He was just going to have to carry her back and hope that McGonagall didn’t catch them. He could only imagine the accusations. 

Okay, so on occasion he could become obsessive, dramatic, over-the-top, inconsolably determined to fulfill a grand scheme of a mess and somehow manage to piss the whole thing up the wall and end up with an explosion of whipped cream and feathers completely covering Flitwick as he unwittingly walked into the trap set for Theodore Nott. That was  _ once _ .

Yeah, but then there was the time that he’d also sent Snape the exploding Valentine that was just  _ supposed _ to be a frog hopping out onto his face. Turns out exploding charms and amphibians don’t mix well.  _ Rest in peace, Todrick Toadstool of Tottenham _ . 

Maybe he just shouldn’t try to explode things. 

Finally about halfway through his cigarette, Lily had fallen asleep in the grass and he let himself lay back for a second from where he was sat. His head lay next to hers and he turned to their noses being inches apart. Even upside down, her features were so gentle, and she was like freckled porcelain. 

“Lily Evans, what I wouldn’t give to have you actually want to spend time with me of your own accord.” 

He shook his head, trying not to think about last night. Instead he pulled his snitch out of his pocket, and grinned. “We meet again, my familiar foe.” James chucked it in the air, gave it a thirty second head start, and then did a barrel roll before actually going after it.

It zipped around the top of one of the towers and down by Hagrid’s Hut. James looped and swirled after it, completely in the zone. A hand out, he managed to catch it while it hovered inches over the lake. As he steadied his broom, ready to let it go again, the Giant Squid gave him a splash with one of its tentacles.

“You vixen,” He chided. “Behave yourself, why don’t you?” 

And then he was off again.

This time it was trying to outsmart him, the cheeky little wench. He flew after it through the viaducts and the over towards Gryffindor Tower. The snitch looked like it was taking a break right next to one of the windows, so he dove for it. As he got close, he realized it was the window Lily was sitting in and had a very, very bad idea.

Instead of stopping like a normal, sane wizard would, he kept going until people in the common room shrieked that he was going to smash into the windows. Being the amazing flyer that he was, he was able to close his fingers around the snitch and do a complete full-broom-front-flip like it was just no big deal. 

And cue.

Lily Evans looked like she could explode herself and hoisted up the window, hanging her entire front half out of it. “JAMES POTTER. WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE PLAYING AT?”

Too easy. No points for that one. “Quidditch. If you can catch a snitch, you can catch a bloody quaffle. I happen to be able to do both.”

Her face was going red enough to match her hair.

“Just because we’re a wee bit hungover doesn’t mean I’m the bad guy for, Merlin forbid, practicing my maneuvers during my spare time.”

“I’ll dock you points, you miserable git.”

“And what, tell McGonagall that you told off her best player for using his Saturday afternoon to hone his skills for the betterment of the team?”

“You’re showing off.”

He laughed, “I’m always showing off. It’s nothing new, really. Shouldn’t surprise you. What should is the fact that I didn’t last night.”

If he would’ve been within arms reach, James was pretty sure she would’ve strangled him. “Twenty points from Gryffindor!”

Behind her the common room erupted in a fit of groans.

He shoved the snitch back in his pocket and shrugged, “It’s true. And when I came to see that you were okay, you know, like any normal, compassionate,  _ sane _ person would do, you proceeded to make a twat out of me. Thanks for that, but now it’s my turn, love.”

James steadied his broom again with one hand and then in a swift motion stood up on just his two feet positioned strategically across the stick.

“What are you doing?” She looked relatively alarmed, fists like white hot rage.

He teeter-tottered the broom with the toe of his shoe. “You can either come with me right now,” he said, letting it linger and wind her up. “Or I’ll jump off my broom right here.”

She nearly growled at him and now it had caught the attention of the entire house and others on the ground. “You’re barking mad!”

Another window opened up, from his dormitory. It was Sirius, wide-eyed and knowing he was up to something, but nothing he would approve of. “Prongs! What the bloody hell are you doing?”

He spun the broom around a bit, now really showing off, arms extended for balance. He could hear some of the girls gasp. “Oi, Padfoot. Just telling Evans that unless she climbs out this window and gets on this broom to talk to me, I’m going to jump off of it.”

And then Remus appeared from the dormitory window. “JAMES. TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR.” He looked sickly and awful, yelling with a harsh, hoarse voice. 

“It’s no big deal, Remus. You can have all my things when I jump.”

Lily was further out of the window now, “You are not jumping off of that broom, Potter. If you do…”

“Most likely, if I do, then I’ll hit something on the way down and break my neck, dying instantly.” He rocked the broom back and forth more, turning in a complete circle. “I mean, that’s the best outcome, at least!”

Sirius pushed Remus back inside, “You arse. Get up here!”

“Eh, no.”

“EVANS. If he leaps to his death, I will personally hold it against you and make your golden years in school the most miserable of your existence.” Sirius barked back towards the window she was hanging from.

He continued rocking the room with the soles of his shoes, dancing a little bit, “What do you say, Ging? Fancy a ride?”

“You loathsome, vile, sorry excuse for a-” As she extended her hand out, he grabbed it and didn’t even give her the time to balance, before hopping back to a riding position and she was forced to wrap her arms around him tightly. “I hate you.”

James sped off towards the pitch, “I’m well aware.” He figured he could spook her a bit and weaved in and out of the stands, through the goals, and then did a series of barrel rolls.

Meanwhile, she dug her nails into his sweatshirt and chest, hiding her face in his back and screamed the entire time.

Before she could loosen her grip, he’d brought them to the very top of the astronomy tower and touched the broom down atop one of the dormers. “Our stop, m’lady.”

As soon as she stepped off the broom and got some sort of balance, she turned and punched him square in the nose. “This is a new low for you.”

“Do you even remember last night, Lily? At all?” Her punch had knocked him backwards, but he managed to catch his balance, rubbing the now slightly swelling area beneath his glasses..

She shifted awkwardly, “Some of it.”

“Well, you were the prick last night. And it could’ve been something you sincerely regretted if it had been anyone less savory than myself that had stumbled into the boathouse,” James told her matter-of-factly.

“So I was drunk. You get drunk all the time.”

“No, Lily, you were drunk, told me your parents had an accident and died, and then kissed me. I asked you to stop and you refused.”

Her eyes were wide in disbelief. “I wouldn’t! I would never! James Potter, if this is some scheme to get me to kiss you now-”

“You think that’s what I want? I’m fucking concerned. I had to all but throw you off the pier to get you to stop. You weren’t taking no for an answer.” He clenched his fists. “After all these years, do you think that’s how I wanted to kiss you the first time? Honestly, Evans.”

Lily swallowed, biting her lip and refusing to look at him or say anything.

“I know one day you’ll kiss me and actually mean it. You’ll do it because you genuinely wish to snog me, but not because you’re sad, angry, grieving, or in denial. Regardless of what Snape or your sister said to you.” His hands mindlessly went into his hair and he turned away to look out into the forest. “I haven’t loved you for five years for you to just use that as a way to make yourself feel better. When you kiss me - and I don’t care if I sound like the biggest girl in the world right now - but when you kiss me, it’ll be because you physically can’t keep yourself from doing it.

“I’m truly and deeply sorry about your parents. And I’m sorry I’ve gone on about this a lot more than I initially planned on. I don’t mean to lecture you, but you know, I actually wanted to talk to you and tell you that if you didn’t want to go home to just your sister, who you told me last night you don’t get on with, that you could come with me and Sirius and we would love to have you. Cleared it with Mum and everything. 

“I was going to ask if there was something I could do other than cleaning up your sick from off my shoes, trousers, hands, out of your hair, and in the most modest way possible, I got you out of your sweater and into one of mine.” He turned back to her to see her entire face was streaming with tears. “Incidentally which you’re still wearing.”

“You can have it back-”

“That’s not what I’m saying. You have these convictions which you stick to, and you’re brilliant! But there’s times like these when you don’t see what in the fucking hell is right in front of you. And I’m sorry it took a joke to get you to see that. Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to harass you anymore or-”

“...James,” she pleaded.

“I’m not finished.” He snapped, “Sorry, I’m just extremely frustrated with this situation. The fact that I had to trap you on a bloody rooftop just so you’d speak with me. The rest of your cackling corner of judgemental friends fucked off and left you. I spent my Friday night taking care of you and got you into bed. I stayed there with you until you had completely fallen asleep.

“I am a genuinely nice person, as arrogant as I might be, I do care. I just wanted to make you aware. Sorry for all the yelling. I’m not good at this whole feelings thing.”

She reached over and took his hand, “I’m sorry for the way I behaved. And thank you, for being a good friend.”

“Didn’t realize we were friends - according to you any other day.” He flung his head back, “I’m sorry, I’m being awful now. It’s reaction. I get defensive.”

“It’s okay.” She sniffled, and it was killing him.

“Fuck, Lily.” He pulled her into a hug. “I’m just trying to do right by you and I can’t stand to see you hurting. You don’t have to be friends with me, but I am… here.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I ended up posting the second chapter early. I got really excited with the great reception the first chapter had. Thank you everyone for the messages, kudos, tumblr follows, and in general just reading this. Nice little ego boost to see that much in the first two days! 
> 
> As mentioned previously, from here on out there is one POV per chapter. 
> 
> Comments, kudos, reviews, messages... all are welcome and most definitely appreciated. As usual, feel free to check out my fic tumblr, jprongsx, or my personal tumblr, neverbeenasafebet.


	3. Raging Hormones and the Flea-Bitten Lycanthrope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month after the whole puke-on-Potter's-shoes incident. Remus spends the days after a transformation feeling guilty and brooding, Peter gets McGonagall to believe that they injured themselves playing 'wizard broom chicken', Sirius gives an excellent cwtch, and James made a twat out of.

His friends were idiots. There was just no other way to see it. Remus limped over to his bed. The full moon a few nights ago hadn’t gone as well as the previous one. Instead he had been overly irritable, lost control, and attacked all three of his mates. Remus felt awful and really hadn’t spoken much since. Sirius had to be treated for scratches from being thrown into the Whomping Willow like a rag doll and had bruised his ribs up pretty badly. James had a concussion and a black eye. And Peter, poor Peter, he’d done a number on Peter only because he was so small. In the squabble, Peter had tried to bite Remus’ ankles to distract him, and then led the wolf back into the Shrieking Shack with a very scary game of Catch Me If You Can. 

Luckily Peter was able to get him into the shack, get back out of it and change back in time to lock him in. But not without compound fracturing one of his legs.

He pushed himself onto the bed, closing the curtains behind him. He didn’t even know the story they came up with, but he was so ashamed that he wasn’t sure he wanted to. AS punishment, he wasn’t even taking the draught that Madam Pomfrey had made up for him. He didn’t feel he deserved it. Instead, he dealt with the agony. Currently he had the dormitory all to himself as he’d skipped dinner. 

It was decided. He would tell them that they couldn’t come with him during full moons anymore. He could’ve killed one of them. Being a teenage werewolf fucking sucked. All they were doing was trying to be there for him and he’d screwed everything up by being extra violent. The only positive he could think of, and he nearly hated himself for even considering it, was that he hadn’t used himself as a human pincushion. He didn’t have additional scars - as if he needed more - and at that point, he thought, he would actually be forced to use the draught.

And then there was the embarrassing part to top all of it off. After he’d recovered a bit and she was ready to release him. He told her how violent he had ‘felt’ last night - not how badly he’d injured his best friends - and she said she had an idea about that. Hormones. That part wasn’t so bad. Scientifically, he could understand it. He was sixteen and these things were far out of his control. But she told him that it would be a good idea for him to find a way to  _ relieve _ himself, whether on his own or with someone else as pent up frustrations could be transferring to his mental state as a wolf. It was absolutely mortifying to hear, but to top it off, she handed him a paper bag full of condoms and a bottle of something that if any of them found, he’d never live down.

He could hear voices and laughter from the dormitory steps and checked that all his curtains were shut. 

“I still can’t believe that she bought the story that we did it making up a game called ‘wizard broom chicken’. Peter, you are fucking brilliant!” Sirius was obviously amused with something. “Sounds like a right fun game though.”

“Fuck that, mate. Just the imaginary wizard broom chicken has the room spinning and I look like a bloody raccoon.” James had already flopped into his bed.

“And she only docked us 100 points total! Not entirely bad! It could’ve been a lot worse.” Peter was trying to see the bright side. “Sirius, could you help me get my leg over the bed. Bloody walking cast. And she locked it with some crazy charm so I can’t even scratch at it.”

“Maybe Mary MacDonald will feel sorry for you enough to go out with you this Hogsmeade weekend, Wormtail!” James laughed, and then they were all laughing. Remus even found himself stifling a painful laugh.

“HE LIVES!” Sirius sounded far too excited about this and then as predicted, he flung open the curtains to Remus’ bed. “Mate, you’ve knocked us a good one!” Somehow, Sirius was absolutely beaming about this.

“I’m really sorry, guys, I can understand if -”

“It’s brilliant! Lily spoke to me for the first time in a month without running away! She asked if I was alright!” James yelled from his four poster bed across the room.

“And everyone is actually coming up to talk to me and offer to help me get to lessons and write my homework for me.” Peter sounded like he was fantasizing about this.

And then, of course, Sirius took off his shirt - as if he needed an excuse - and turned in a circle. “Moony, mate, look at this shyte. Sexy and mysterious, right?”

“Because that angle has worked wonders for me.”

Sirius gave him an odd look and crawled into the bed with him, “You alright? You haven’t even spoken to us. Are you annoyed?”

“With myself.”

“Aw, don’t be. C’mon, give us a cuddle and we’ll be right as rain.” Sirius meased his way under Remus’ covers and wrapped an arm around him, “I’ll even let you be little spoon!:

“Oh, brilliant. What joy…”

“Don’t sound so enthused…” Sirius blew a raspberry on the back of his neck.

“If you two are going to do some awkward, crippled fondling of each other, please shut the curtains and put on a silencing charm. My head is throbbing. I am not going to listen to Remus howl like a wolf while Sirius wanks for him.” James teased.

Remus crinkled his nose, “You have a knack for taking things too far.” And then he looked at Sirius from the corner of his eye, “You can stay only because you’re warm. But if I get too hot, you’re getting into your own bloody bed.”

“Whatever you say, grumpy wolf.”

“Night, lads.”

“Night, dickheads.”

“Sweet wet dreams.”

“If the three of you don’t shut up and go to sleep, I’m going to rediscover my violence and toss you all out of the fucking window.”

“Shh,  _ grumpy wolf _ , some of us are trying to sleep here,” Sirius teased.

 

The morning was cold and Remus turned, trying to roll himself up into the blankets more, pretending he didn’t need to wake up soon. AS he rolled, he found Sirius’ chest. Half asleep, he was still a bit confused and put a hand against his side. He was extremely warm. Peering through sleep-filled lashes, Remus looked at him, all peaceful and quiet - how he liked him best. He let himself linger a minute before resting his head on Sirius’ shoulder, scooting in close just because otherwise it was just plain ridiculous to stay shivering when you had a live space heater in the bed with you already.

“Morning, Moony.” Sirius chuckled and wrapped his arms around him obnoxiously. “You don’t have to be embarrassed! No one can actually blame you for it, I am an amazing cuddler.”

Remus winced, trying to push away, “Oxygen is becoming an issue, you mangy twat.”

Sirius smiled at him, and didn’t move away, just released his grip a bit. “You feeling better then? More like a disheveled teenage wizard rather than a grumpy ol’ git?”

Truthfully, he did feel a little bit better, but not by much. Especially not when Sirius rolled onto his back and he could see the deep purple bruising along his side. He pushed up onto one elbow and pulled the blanket away from it, letting his fingertips brush the edges. He still felt sick that he did this.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, really.”

“I’m  _ really _ sorry.” Remus covered the bruise with the blanket, hearing rustling from within the dormitory. As he looked up, his nose brushed Sirius’. They were eye to eye and he couldn’t bring himself to turn away from Sirius’ grey stare, noticing that Sirius wasn’t trying to look away either. 

“Your hand is still on my chest, Moony,” he whispered.

“Right, sorry, er-” He retracted his hand like suddenly his friend’s skin was hot coals, “I didn’t mean to, yeah. You get it.”

Sirius’ lips curled up and he turned onto his side, pushing his forehead into Remus’. “Aw, what are you like?” They were extremely close and suddenly it was the middle of summer, in somewhere like Fiji. The air was thick and it was so awkward, but then not awkward, and if this was something out of a book, he knew how it would end with these long, breathy pauses.

“Sirius, what are we doing?”

But then Sirius pulled away slightly, which confused him because he’d been just as intense and Remus wanted to pull him back, to-

“OI! What in the bloody name of Merlin’s tissue-filled rubbish basket are the two of you doing?” James ripped open the curtain and Remus was absolutely mortified. Being the king of cretins himself, James jumped into the bed and pulled nearly half the covers over as well. “Wormtail, I’d invite you, but your cast is like a bloody troll’s foot and I can’t be bothered.”

So now Remus was smashed between the two loudest, most obnoxious, and self-absorbed individuals he’d ever met, given about six inches of room - in his own bed. “Morning, Prongs. I see you’ve made yourself at home.”

“Well, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding was in here, so I thought I might give it a go.” James mocked the both of them, wrapping his arms around Remus from behind. “Huh. So, this is literally what you two do? Remus, you read, and Sirius… what is it that you do other than like… dry shag him and chatter into his ear-”

“Okay, one, I’m nowhere  _ near  _ as broody as he is. Remus broods like no other man alive. And two, have you ever actually enjoyed a good cuddle? It’s warm and cozy and you’re just jealous that Remus and I have such a close relationship.” Sirius winked, leaning in and shoving James’ glasses hard into the bridge of his nose with his forefinger.

“How about: Get out of  _ my  _ bed. The both of you?” Remus pushed them each away, groaning, “C’mon. Let’s get down to breakfast before the good bench gets taken.”

And by the good bench, he meant the one next to the Hufflepuff table, two from the doors. That was their usual spot because it was low key enough to get away with whatever and not draw attention. At the same time though, they could still get into the thick of things if they needed to. When they did make it into the Great Hall, that table, as well as most of them were full. This was partially due to the fact that it took Peter twice as long to get ready and make it down the stairs. So instead they were farther up and on the Ravenclaw side - meaning their backs were to the Slytherins, something they never liked to do. 

“Remus, switch seats with me,” James mumbled into his ear.

“Why on earth would I do that?” He turned, glaring at him. But he already knew why. James didn’t want to sit across from Lily Evans. The two of them wouldn’t look at each other, and hadn’t even hardly teased each other in weeks.

Yeah, he could easily fix that.

“Lily, am I still taking your rounds tonight since you covered mine on Monday?” Remus called over to her, forcing her to look over at him and subsequently James.

He received a very firm elbow to his stomach, and James snatched the book out of Remus’ other hand, pretending he was reading it to avoid making eye contact. He just didn’t realize the book was upside down, the berk.

The redhead turned to look to Remus, blushing and frowning when she saw who was next to him. “Er, yes. I believe that’s what we agreed. Why, can you not do it tonight now?”

“Of course I still can. I just wanted to confirm.” Remus grinned, feeling that he could really do some good damage here. “Plus, I could use a good crack at someone doing something idiotic and worthy of getting caught.” Karma is a bitch, Prongs. “James, you do know that book is upside down, yeah?”

Lily froze, not knowing what to say and instead, excused herself. “I’ve gotta get to Transfiguration. I’ll see you later, Remus.”

“You absolute knobhead.” James growled. 

Laughing, he shoved in a mouthful of poached eggs before continuing. “Wait, so does that mean you’re not going to chase after her? Are you ill?” He put a hand to his forehead and then looked to his other side. “Sirius, James is ill.”

“What’s that?” Sirius turned his attention away from Marlene McKinnon’s vast tale of treachery in the throes of needing to go to Switzerland over Christmas instead of France like they normally did.

“It’s our James. He’s ill. Feel him.” Remus took his hand away from James’ face and leaned back so Sirius could reach over, which he did, and felt James’ forehead. “See?”

“Does he realize that his book is upside down?” Sirius cackled, “James, are you sick?”

“Lily walked off and James Gonna-Marry_Her-One-Day Potter didn’t even follow!”

“Blimey! We need to get him to the hospital wing! It must be serious.”

Remus cocked a brow, “No, you’re Sirius.”

And then Sirius scoffed, looking mildly impressed and mostly insulted, “That’s  _ my _ pun you flea-bitten lycanthrope, you!”

“Mate, I think it’s you who had the fleas, you’ve been itching all morning.” Remus shoved him lightly, before grabbing another piece of toast.

“You’re both bloody insufferable!” James stood, grabbed his bag, and sulked out of the Great Hall, making sure to stop and go the opposite way that Lily had walked.

This made the two of them crack up laughing. “Remus, what did you do to upset him, really? He looked like that time Peter chewed the shoelaces out of his favorite boots!”

“A mix of about to explode and constipated with a sunburn?”

“That’s the one.”

Remus leaned in, talking low. “I noticed how uncomfortably awkward they’ve gotten between each other and I want to know why. So I figured I’d just to poke the stag a bit and see if anything came out.”

Giving him a clap on the back, Sirius smirked. “You are evil and absolutely brilliant…” Sirius kept the hand on his back for a bit longer than considered normal. “BUt, why did you do it? That’s a very Sirius Black thing to do.”

“Alright, third person references, tell your ego to sit back down.” Remus stuck out his tongue and ate the last of his toast. “We had a moment earlier and he interrupted. So when I felt a bit mischievous, as I’ve been known to every once in a great while, I decided to take my revenge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do love a good, mischievous Remus! 
> 
> Next chapter has some excellent wit on behalf of Lily. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! Comments, kudos, and reviews are golden - whether here or via my tumblr: jprongsx


	4. Lamb Vindaloo and the Biting Biscuit Jar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily has an interesting Christmas with an unlikely group.

Christmas, at one time, had been Lily’s favourite time of year. The sixth year girl’s dormitory would draw names for secret santa gifts, there was garland and pine all around the castle and trees in the common rooms. The Great Hall was like one large Christmas celebration from December first onwards. And no matter how awful Petunia was to her all year, Lily would always bring her sweets and things from Hogsmeade and slip them into her room on Christmas Eve night. 

Not this year. This year was going to be downright dreadful. Lily Evans wasn’t going home to an empty house, because that would simply be even more depressing. Marlene McKinnon was going to Switzerland. Mary MacDonald’s mum was very ill and she wasn’t even going to ask. That left her with staying at Hogwarts on her own or trying to befriend someone three days before Christmas holidays.

She walked back through the portrait hole on her own to a quiet, empty common room. She couldn’t be bothered with Slughorn asking her if she was alright sixteen times per lesson and double Potions didn’t sound like the most exciting way to spend her afternoon. 

As she threw her bag onto the floor, Lily flopped into her favourite chair in front of the fire. Behind her, she could hear someone rummage about and then head up into the boys dormitories.  _ Good _ , she thought _ , I can be left to my own thoughts _ . Actually, she couldn’t think of a single Gryffindor who was staying over, which was a bit odd.

Leaning back, she pulled up her long red hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. Just as she closed her eyes to relax, there was a fluttering right in front of her face. Crinkling the bridge of her nose, she eventually had to look, and nearly jumped out of her skin. It was a small, wrapped box, about the size of a shoe. When it dropped into her lap, she looked at the handwritten note on the top.

_ You’ll need this for Christmas in Devonshire. _

Who in the hell did she know in Devonshire? Perplexed, Lily undid the bow and ripped the paper on it. In the box was a scarf, a takeaway menu, and a pair of ear plugs. She was utterly confused what these three things had to do with each other, but she was definitely intrigued. Mary was in Shrewsbury and Marlene wasn’t even going to be in the UK. 

And then her eyes went wide. She knew who lived in Devon. Standing up, she took a deep breath, ready to yell up into that boys dormitory. The only problem was that as she whirled around, she turned right into his chest.

“Fancy seeing you here, Evans.”

“Potter! Shouldn’t you be in Potions?”

He shrugged, smiling like the arrogant prat that he was. “Shouldn’t you?”

“What is all this for?” She shoved the box at him and then crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look as irritated with him as she could possibly muster up. 

“Well, the scarf is obvious. It gets pretty chilly - and my dad is a brilliant knitter when he can be bothered. The takeaway menu is because you’ll need to know what you want for Thursday Curry Night. It’s a thing, it’s happening, and it’s been tradition ever since Sirius moved in. Poor bloke had never had a curry. So, naturally I ordered him a vindaloo and knocked the bloody socks off him. And the ear plugs… Well, besides the lads and I getting up to something nearly everyday of the week, I’m giving you the opportunity to continue to ignore me while you’re there.” James had obviously thought very hard about all of this.

Shocked, she couldn’t think of the words. “Potter, I don’t - I don’t know what to say.”

He laughed, “Say that you’re about to finally go start packing because the day after tomorrow, we leave. Needless to say, Mum is thrilled to have another female in the house for a bit - because Remus doesn’t count. And you like him! He always comes ‘round.”

Lily shook her head. She wasn’t sure that she could actually go through with this. “I’d already planned on staying here and getting a head start on next term.”

“BOLLOCKS.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the girls dormitory staircase. “Get your ginger arse up there, put your things in the ruddy trunk and then you can finish your one person pity party. But I’m not going to let you stay here alone on Christmas. You love Christmas.”

“How do you know?”

“Evans, I know  _ you _ .”

She obliged, shuffling up the stairs, turning once to look back at him and accidentally letting him see her smile.

 

“You’re joking right?” Marlene stared at her in disbelief.

Sheepishly, Lily hid behind packing her trunk and focused on the task at hand. What did one pack to go home for Christmas with someone who has proclaimed his love in the most obnoxious ways possible for the last five years, then you drunkenly tried to kiss, and then he decided to tell you that he didn’t want you like that - oh, and being the school’s most recent tragic case. It was like something out of an after school special.

The blonde flopped onto her bed, obviously far too amused for her own good. “So, is it just you and James? Or will Sirius be there too?”

Sometimes Marlene’s mind went into dark places, dark places that she definitely never ever wanted to visit, hear about, have pictures drawn up, see pictures, or any other unmentionable ways of describing said place. But, alas, she told her anyway. Consistently. On a daily basis. “You know, Sirius likes-’

“I don’t want to know. I plan on sitting in the bedroom and reading far too many books.” Before Marlene could even interject, she corrected herself. “The spare bedroom that his mum has set up for me. Don’t start. It’s already been humiliating enough, but I don’t exactly have another choice.”

“Humiliating? I would jump at the idea!”

“I’m sure you would.” She rolled her eyes and continued folding socks and tucking them in systematically so she only had to bring one thing. “Correction, you have tried.”

Once Lily had her fill of packing for the time being, she left Marlene to daydream about spending a holiday with two boys. The common room was emptying out as the train was leaving in a few hours. Some people had already gone down into the Great Hall. She spent the remainder of those few hours sitting in her favorite chair, chatting a bit with Mary and enjoying the quiet, which would probably seem so foreign by tomorrow morning.

“Evans!”

“Oi, Evans!”

“Hi, Lily. Heard you’ll be around for this year’s shenanigans.!”

Her face turned a bright pink and she shrugged, “Yeah. Hi Sirius. Potter, Remus.”

“Why do I get last named?” 

“Because _ you _ have gotten on her everlasting nerve since she first entered the castle?” SIrius was bouncing around like an idiot, and Lily wasn’t sure she wanted to know why. Most likely it wasn’t a good reason at all and it would either make her cringe or need to take away house points. And the train ride wasn’t any better. They had sat in the compartment directly behind the one she’d taken with Mary and Marlene. By the time it was actually over, Peter Pettigrew only had one eyebrow, Sirius’ nose had bled twice, they’d hexed a couple passing by Slytherins to grow large black wings and big beady eyes, and Remus had come in to borrow their rubbish bin because they were playing a game that was making him want to throw up.

She almost wanted to cling to Marlene as she went off with her parents. But then there she went, her mother looking like a replica of her just with wider hips and a few more lines. Mary and her siblings had been picked up by her father, who worked at the Ministry. But then she felt a hand pulling her back, and she turned, nose to chin with James.

“Ready? Dad’s already in the car and Mum is going to wet herself with excitement if she doesn’t get to meet you in the next thirty seconds.” He smiled, squeezed her hand for reassurance and then hopped off towards Sirius where they had already taken all their trunks and started rolling them out of King's Cross. Lily couldn’t help but have a gut wrenching, sick feeling that she had no one coming for her. Instead she felt out of place going with another family, one that was completely alien to her. Why did she even agree to this?

James’ Mum seemed very sweet, although much older than Lily had expected. But she was telling her not to mind the two of them because they had enough house to wreak havoc in to allow her space to get away. And she asked about what sweets Lily liked and had she ever been to Devon and a lot of things that by the time they had driven out of London, James even let her know that it was all a bit much.

“Sorry, dear. I’m used to a house full of men. I can’t help but be happy to have a another woman around - especially one that I won’t have to apologize for the chaos that it becomes.” She smiled at her, looking over from the passenger seat of the car. James had assured her that his father was very amused with muggle technology and that on occasion he’d charm the nice couple down the street to use their car for the day. And apparently this was one of those times.

It was a long, exhaustive trip to Devon, but it didn’t actually take them much time, considering. Lily thought Mr. Potter must have done something to the car that their muggle neighbors had no clue about. As they turned into a thin road across a grassy field, Lily realized that this must’ve been it. From the road, nothing was visible, but now that they had turned into the long winding drive, she could see the house coming into sight. It was rather large. One of the biggest she’d ever seen for just one family. It’s no wonder they didn’t mind taking on guests, even charity cases like herself.

The house reminded her of Bath, having rough exterior walls with many ornate windows and the pale look to it, but with an oddly crooked red chimney. And the inside was like nothing she’d ever seen. Her eyes must’ve been wide, because that’s when Sirius leaned over.

“You have been to a proper wizarding house, yeah?”

“Just Marlene’s…” But Marlene lived in Liverpool and her parents had a terraced home, so she’d never really noticed the difference. And as her father was muggleborn, they didn’t exactly have the most magic-filled house either. It was a happy medium. This was just absurd in so many ways. Although, it was obvious that Sirius was part of the family. His pictures lined the walls all waving and smirking nearly as much as James did. It even looked as though there were some baby pictures of him too, that he must’ve stolen from his own family house.

“James, Sirius, show our guest to her room and then order a curry, will you? I’m famished.” James’ dad said before going up to a wall that suddenly turned into a door and he stepped through.

“That’s his study. He makes all of his potions and inventions in there,” Sirius whispered as they walked up the steps.

“What’s he make?”

“Hair products.”

Lily looked at the both of them, Sirius with his long hair that was sometimes in a bun, sometimes just thrown back continuously with his fingers all day. And James had the most untidy hair of anyone she’d ever seen.

“This is you, Evans.” James led her into a room that Lily thought looked like it’s own flat. It had a bed and a dressing curtain, sofa and table, radio, kettle, and a plethora of different sweets piled atop a small round table.

Stunned, she looked up at him, “Just me?” Her mouth must’ve dropped open because the two of them were suddenly rolling with laughter. 

“So what curry are you getting? They’ll want to go ahead and order it like, within the next thirty seconds.” James smiled over at her, “I’m a sag aloo and lamb jalfrezi man myself, but Sirius is a simpleton and prefers kormas and tikka masala.”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You’ve scarred me forever on spicy curries. Bloody lamb vindaloo at thirteen! And you told them extra chiles!” By Sirius’ facial expression, he could still remember the burn. “And I swear, if you tell them to make the prawn crackers spicy this time, I’m going to crumbled them up into your pants drawer, you sorry sod.”

“Dually noted. Now, Miss Evans, what will you have?”

“I bet she wants a chicken korma.”

Well, if she had to make the best of it, she may as well get in on the fun. “I’ll have the lamb vindaloo, since it’s a rite of passage.”

Sirius’ eyes went wide with horror, “Barking mad, the both of you! Take your bloody chiles and shove them up your-”

“SIRIUS, LANGUAGE!” And it seemed that James’ mum had ears like a bat.

“Nose. I was going to say shove them up your nose. Yep.” He shook his head and walked off down the hall, opening a door and exclaiming that he’d found something he’d been looking for all year and had blamed Peter for taking.

James sat down on her bed, its burgundy, plush blankets puffing and sinking in ways that had to be magic. “How are you holding up so far?” He patted the spot next to him, “I won’t bite. I’m only trying to be nice.”

Reluctantly, she joined him. “Better than I imagined. Little bit of a shock, but your family seems really nice. There’s nothing to really remind me of home to make me cry, which is a good thing. And at least I’ll be distracted by the two of you.”

“Four of us!” He laughed. “Remus and Peter all always over. Peter gets bored without any entertainment and Remus’ flat is so small that he stays over a lot just to stretch his legs. Poor blokes bed isn’t even tall enough for him.”

“Joy. Poor Remus.”

He put an arm around her cautiously, but when she didn’t run screaming, he left it. “I’m glad you came. I just didn’t want you on your own for Christmas. And when Remus asked Mary and Marlene, they said you weren’t going home with them, so I wrote home to Mum about it again.”

“Thanks, James.” She smiled genuinely at him, and then gave him a peck on the cheek. “Sorry for being so awful to you lately. I’ll make it up by showing Sirius how to eat a bloody spicy curry without acting like a total girl.”

And she did just that. Luckily her father had always been about spicy foods - much to Petunia’s dismay. So she could handle a good kick. It must’ve thoroughly impressed James parents though, because suddenly they were whispering and nudging each other, trading looks between her and James. Meanwhile Sirius ate his Chicken Korma happily while munching on regular prawn crackers and even dipping those in yoghurt sauce. 

When Christmas morning came around the following week, she wasn’t really sure what to expect. She had written to her sister to tell her the address of James’ house, but doubted she’d get so much as a card. And Marlene and Mary had already exchanged their gifts with her before they’d left. Mary gave her a set of her favourite shampoos and bath things from Witch Weekly and Marlene had given her a very lacy undergarment, but Lily had stuffed it underneath her mattress, not daring to bring it here. 

She was pulling on a baggy sweater to keep her warm and somewhat match her reindeer pajama bottoms. Lily figured that she may as well be kind of festive. She hadn’t even brushed her hair yet when her door burst open and both James and Sirius, hands over their eyes, barged in unannounced.

“Evans, wake up, it’s Christmas morning and Mum doesn’t let us into anything until everyone is in the front room!”

“Please tell me your decent,” Sirius yelped, stubbing his toe.

“No, I was sat in just my pants and a vest,” She joked, rolling her eyes.

“Are you serious?!” James yelled, a little bit too excited. 

“No, I’m Sirius you great, ugly git. She’s dressed.” Although, saying that, Sirius had immediately looked at her just to check that she wasn’t actually truthful.

Lily smirked and then patted them both on the head. “C’mon then, I want to at least have a cuppa before you two explode the Christmas tree or whatever.” What exactly did wizarding Christmases entail?

“Why would we do that?” James followed her out of the room, confused. 

His hair seemed to be extra messy this morning, although he looked kind of  adorable in his shorts with knee high striped socks and a green t shirt underneath a navy blue robe. Sirius on the other hand had his hair in a wild messy bun with a tight black thermal top and plaid bottoms that were flashing different colors. Was this normal wizarding Christmas attire? She felt a whole lot less festive now.

But as they made it downstairs, Mrs. Potter was in her everyday robes already and Mr. Potter had on a long navy bath robe that matched James’, the strangest looking slippers she’d ever seen, and had a large pipe hanging from his bottom lip.

“Good morning! Mum’s already made tea and there’s the usual biscuits - no Sirius, the biscuit jar isn’t going to bite this time. She’s given it a good washing.”

The two of them went off into the kitchen, coming back with a tray of mugs and a jar of biscuits in every variety. Sirius was sucking on his fingers and Lily guessed that Mr. Potter had lied about the biting jar. 

James plopped onto the sofa next to her, putting his arms over the back of the couch, eyes traveling the ‘modest’ stack of packages that sat underneath of the tree a few feet from him. She could tell that he was mentally scanned for what they may be, only hoping the small trinkets she was able to come up with were enough. It wasn’t like she’d had much time.

“Alright, where is she? I wanna see James’ face when he opens mine and I’m not waiting much longer!” Sirius whined, sitting next to James, well, kind of more half on top of him.

Lily smiled, one of the first real smiles in a long time. Somehow the two most unlikely people at school had taken her in and accepted her, no questions asked. It wasn’t like with Marlene or Mary, acting as if she was going to break, and not a single member of the Potter household made her try to talk about her feelings. It was a strange situation, but never had she ever expected that it would begin to feel like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been reading, giving kudos, following me on tumblr, and all of the praise. It means a lot. My tumblr, jprongsx, has some aesthetics I've made for AOBM, so feel free to check that out. 
> 
> Next chapter is Sirius', called 'Persephone Whatsherface and the Ring of Fire'. Takes place during New Year's at the Potter household.


	5. Persephone Whatsherface and the Ring of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Eve with your wondrous and gracious hosts, Messers Padfoot and Prongs. Sirius is a phenomenal bar wench, James makes an arse out of himself - as usual, Lily has a few good eye rolls, Peter is the dark horse of drinking, and Remus gives a damn good snog.

Christmas morning had been brilliant. He’d exploded an entire box of feathers into the Potter living room from James’ stocking while his own had insulted him as he tried to get his sweets out. The biscuit jar had bitten him a total of six times by dinner and James had bewitched the turkey to start screaming and begging for its life as Mr. Potter tried to cut it. Successful holiday. Now they had to make New Years just as good. 

He found himself growing impatient and pacing waiting for a certain werewolf to come stumbling out of the fireplace in which he would mock him for a few minutes and then they could share a longing, confusing look, silently agree to still not talk about it, and go on about ringing in the new year with rambunctious joy - especially because James’ parents were going elsewhere for the night, leaving them to their own quite dangerous devices.

“The password to the liquor cabinet was ‘Shiver Me Timbers’! Got it! Bloody git changed it before I could polish off the last bit of that brandy from summer. And now it’s gone. Pity as that would’ve made for the perfect starter drink.” James was pulling out bottles left and right and Merlin knew what the boy was actually looking for.

The taller of the two boys groaned and drug his feet along the living room floor, scuffing about until James threw a cork at him, “Watch it, before you put my bloody eye out, you toad!” He chucked it back at him and then glanced over at Lily who didn’t even look remotely amused with him. 

“Evans, what are you drinking?!” James shouted from inside the back of the liquor cabinet.

“Nothing.” She rolled her eyes, curling herself up more and continuing on with her book.

“Wrong answer.!”

They continued back and forth for a bit and he tuned them out, waiting for the flames to burn green so Remus Lupin could join them. Finally, they did just that. Remus nearly tripped over the grate as he stepped out of the fireplace. He gave the expression of finally being warm after a long chill. 

“S’bout time, Moony! Was starting to think you’d leave me to watch Prongs attempt to corrupt Lily all night.” He crossed his arms, waiting to be greeted properly.

Remus brushed himself off, looking pale, thin, and fragile. Sirius wanted to just sweep him up, cook him food, and then lay in bed all day like the normally did on Saturdays. “Hi Sirius.” He did have a small rucksack with him, no doubtedly with a few bits of clothing and hopefully presents. “Hey, Lily. Glad you’re here. They’re not as horrible after raiding Mr. Potter’s alcohol as you’d imagine, I promise. James normally goes to sleep and I deal with a babbling drunk Sirius all night.”

He saw them exchange smiled as he hugged her first. Sirius was a bit jealous. He was, for all intensive purposes, Sirius’ date as no doubt James would be so focused on Lily that they’d have no other choice. And even though he knew Lily was in a very sensitive place at the moment, albeit coming out of her shell more, he still wanted to be the one Remus hugged right away.

James banged his head on the top shelf as his climbed from inside the cabinet. “Moony! You made it! The brandy is gone, but I’ve found schnapps and firewhiskey!”

After a few minutes’ banter, Sirius nudged Remus. “I have your present upstairs. I’d rather give it to you there, mate.”

Raising an eyebrow, Remus followed him. “I’ll give you yours up here as well and give the young Mr. Potter and Miss Evans some alone time that I’m sure they lacked with you here.”

Once up in his room, Sirius shut the door, then turned and tackled him onto the bed. They gave each other a few jabs and wrestled around until they were both mildly out of breath. “Damn it, I’ve missed you, Padfoot.”

A grin carved it’s way into Sirius’ cheeks easily and he gave him a hug, “I’ve missed you and your soppy book loving self.” As they sat there, both of them embracing each other for a few short seconds happily, Sirius felt a pang somewhere that he tried to keep away from the surface.

“I really hope you like your present. I made it myself.” Remus’ face lit up a bit, looking extremely proud. He dug around in his bag before pulling out a present wrapped in brown paper and tied with a gold ribbon. 

Sirius reached into his bedside drawers and grabbed the two packages carefully wrapped in red and silver paper. “Okay, and then open mine.”

At the notion of two, Remus’ face turned a bit red. He was always worrying about things like this as he couldn’t give elaborate gifts or gestures. The only reason he’d taken a few of Sirius’ jumpers and things were because he’d said they didn’t fit him right. Really, he felt for his best friend not having much. It wasn’t that his parents didn’t try, because they did, but things were quite rough for them especially now that Remus’ mum wasn’t well.

He took the gift from Remus, tearing open the paper excitedly. It was a leather book. He wiggled his eyebrows at the other boy. “A book? You know I only read them if you read them to me.” 

“Open it, twat.” The sandy haired boy shoved him hard and laughed.

Sirius opened the first page, realizing it wasn’t just a book. It was a book of Remus’ sketches. He tried to mask his appreciation. “You got me a picture book! You just  _ get _ me, Moony!” He winked at him and then leaned his head on his shoulder, flipping through some of the pages, “These are brilliant. I didn’t realize you were so talented!” His eyes lit up seeing himself in many of these, equally represented as himself and Padfoot. 

“D-Do you like it?” He sounded nervous. Why was he nervous?

“Moony, you beautiful, wonderful bastard! I love it! It’s fantastic!” Sirius pulled him into another hug, smiling against the side of his neck. Sirius closed his eyes to take in his scent. “Thank you. I absolutely love it.”

They let go of each other and Sirius pushed the two packages at him, grinning wildly.

He opened the book first. A first edition collection of Moliere. Remus’ eyes were wide and he stood, looking at the second page at the dates and feeling the paper. His deep brown eyes darted around the room and back to Sirius, welling up a bit. “Sirius, I can’t take this.”

Scoffing, he tried his best to look insulted, “Why not? It’s a gift, Remus. I thought you’d like it.”

“It’s too much. It’s too expensive and rare! And I didn’t know you even knew who Moliere was!” 

“It’s not too expensive, so shut it. And you mentioned him once when you were droning on about what Shakespeare did for the English language - said Moliere did it for French. So when I found this,” after looking all over in antique book shops and calling all over, “I knew it would make you smile - plus, it’s in French, so I’ll just have to read it  _ to _ you. Open the other one.”

Remus hugged the book to his chest with one hand while opening the second gift with the other. He discarded the paper onto the floor and then frowned, “Sirius, please. This is all too much. I really can’t accept these. This cream is outrageous. I can make do with what Madam Pomfrey makes in the infirmary.

Sirius shook his head, “I wanted to get these for you. I knew how excited you’d be about a first edition book and that cream is supposed to be the best out there for pain after transformations. We can use it sparingly, for when Pomfrey’s stuff just isn’t cutting it. I hate seeing you in that much pain.”

Was Remus tearing up?

He was. So Sirius moved closer to him, brushing away the tear. “Stop it, you big sap. I wanted to make you smile, not sob! It’s New Years! We’ve got to go and get pissed.”

Nodding, Remus agreed, and their eyes locked for a few seconds. Sirius felt himself stirring awkwardly, and then Remus kissed him lightly on the cheek, mumbling, “Thank you.” Before Sirius could respond, he took the book and cream and put them in his bag, moving that to the table by the door. “Alright then, let’s go ring in the bloody new year.”

By the time they got back downstairs, James was wearing most of a lemon tart across his face as he and Lily were laughing. Peter had gotten there and was munching on some of the cakes that Lily had baked this morning. He smiled over at her, knowing she was getting more comfortable being here and being around them. He had a very interesting friendship with Lily. He thought she was quite stuck up at times and she found him to be a prick, but he’d always felt comfortable to speak to her - much like he knew Remus had, and Peter. She was easy to speak to if you weren’t barking at her about how you wanted in her panties like a pompous arse - see James. She was very sisterly and always seemed to know when something was going on before you did. Sirius loved that about her. 

Just before they separated to grab some drinks, Remus’ fingertips brushed his just slightly and Sirius felt a incomprehensible sensation, like his insides had realized after sixteen years that they were upside down. “Alright, your resident bar wench is in the house. So, allow me to woo you four with some fantastic cocktails and plan to have an absolutely fabulous night!”

“Padfoot, you massive poof, shut up and make me a fucking drink.” James stood and jumped over the back of the couch to turn on the radio. It was the countdown to the new year with the Weird Sisters, which, thank Merlin, because he couldn’t deal with Persephone Whatsherface doing it in her thick Geordie accent and making references to which wizarding artists on the countdown she’d been involved with. At least the Weird Sisters actually were entertaining and wouldn’t drone on about themselves.

Working his magic, he made five glasses of something he refused to tell them the ingredients of and just told them to drink it. Lily was the only one that hesitated, “C’mon Lamb Vindaloo, drink up. You’ll thank me.”

“Sirius does make great drinks when he had access to more than just stolen firewhiskey.” Peter smirked, upper lip foamy with the froth of the drink.

“Stolen?” Lily raised an eyebrow and immediately looked over at James disapprovingly.

“Did I say stolen? I meant… borrowed, er, stoned… Oh, bugger all. Forget it.” Peter shoved another cake in and just giggled as Lily elbowed James hard in the stomach.

James rolled himself a cigarette and then tossed Sirius the tin with tobacco and papers, letting his glasses fall to the bridge of his nose as he lit it with the candle on the end table. Lily fanned at him, annoyed, before moving to sit next to Remus, who then went red and pulled his own out of his pocket.

By the third drink, Sirius was sat on James’ knee like a spoiled child and was toasting to all sorts of nonsense. “To Montague’s great, hairy flobberworm of a brow!” There was a round of here-heres and then a cheer for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team sleeping within itself so much they got distracted on the pitch. A round of applause was given to the imaginary Hufflepuff girlfriend Peter invented at the beginning of the year. And by the time they got around to drinking to Marlene McKinnon’s short skirts and long legs, Lily was joining in wholeheartedly, obviously much warmer with a bit of a nudge from the alcohol.

Peter tried his hand at mixing drinks around eleven o’clock and failed miserably. They all poured their drinks into a vase that James had exploded the flowers out of for no reason and coined that vase as the dirty pint. The curly blonde haired boy was forbidden from the ‘bar table’ for the rest of the night.

When eleven thirty rolled around, James had found a deck of cards and deemed they play ring of fire. After explaining the rules to a very terrified looking Lily, she agreed, but said they would get what they asked for. Sirius had grinned over at her, knowing she was ballsy. He was glad she was having fun because she’d been dealt a shit card lately and deserved a bit of uninterrupted fun. With all the cards face down in a circle around the dirty pint vase, the rules were explained.

James went first, having decided they were playing. He drew a three of diamonds. “Three! Me!” And he took a swig of his chocolatey covered Dark Russian.

Then it was Peter, who drew seven and everyone’s hands went up except Lily. She was told that those were the rules explained and she obliged begrudgingly. On Remus’ turn he was able to make a rule. Laughing, he combed his chin with his fingertips and looked to Sirius, “Anytime Sirius compliments himself in some way, he has to sing whatever is on the radio.” Everyone laughed, even him.

Lily’s turn was up and she glanced around the room. She drew a king and looked relieved, pouring a bit of her drink in. Sirius rubbed his hands together, and cracked his knuckles before he picked up a card, as he lifted it up, he did a celebratory jive. It was a queen. “WORMTAIL! Are you playing with yourself under the table?”

Peter looked up, startled at the sudden spotlight, “No! My hands are on the bloody- oh, for fucks sake.”

“Drink!” Sirius stood and laughed, “Bow down, for I am your question master, lady and gentlefolk!”

After it had gone around the group a few more times, James had invoked the right hand rule for drinking, Peter had to make another drink and that one was nearly gone, and Remus looked smug, only having needed to drink once so far. Lily’s category was hot guys of Hogwarts and naturally Sirius had said himself. This meant singing Celestina Warbeck along with the radio. Obviously he had straddled James and dedicated it to him before being thrown off his lap and accused of planning that so he could come onto him. 

“It’s 11:59!” Lily jumped up, startling the four boys as she pointed to the clock. “The new year is in a few seconds!”

“A midnight, drink until your glass is empty. Last one has to pick another person in this room to immediately snog without warning!” James challenged everyone - as usual.

But Lily raised his challenge, “With tongue. Until the first person who finished their drink is satisfied.” This caught James’ attention, and he subtly, but enough that Sirius noticed, bit his lip.

“But you can’t choose the person who finished their drink first,” Sirius added.

Their eyes all flicked to Peter, whose drink was mostly full. Sirius knew he was a dark horse though and could open his throat like a five knut whore and gulp that in one go. As the grandfather clock in James’ front room struck midnight and rang, everyone drank up. He finished his drink and slammed his glass down, beat out by James. Then Peter put his down. Lily and Remus were neck and neck, but James poked Remus hard in the side and he nearly choked, not finishing all his drink. Lily slammed her glass down and cheered. James hadn’t wanted Lily to kiss someone else.

Remus’ face turned red, and he finished the last bit of his drink, glaring at James. “What, were you scared Lily may have chosen me?”

“As if, Moony. Pick someone before I pick for you.” James smirked, sitting back down, crossing his legs, and putting his hand behind his head. “I think Moony is about to get the snog of his life for as long as I say so.

Sirius locked eyes with Remus though, already knowing exactly who he was going to pick. And Remus walked around towards Lily and Sirius could see the panic in their best mates’ face from his peripheral. But instead, just as suspected, Remus put a hand on each of Sirius’ cheeks and pushed his lips up to his. 

He hadn’t realized what those lips could do to him though. James reminded them they had to continue until he was satisfied. Through the kiss, Sirius mumbled into Remus’ mouth, “Let’s make it worth their viewing pleasure, then.” And Remus shoved him onto the couch next to James and put a leg on either side of him.  _ Merlin’s sake, Moony _ . His trousers were getting uncomfortably tight and it didn’t help that Remus parted his lips with his tongue and tangled it with his own. 

“Alright, alright! Enough you bunch of sick bastards!” James shoved Remus off of Sirius, making gag noises. “I know you have practise with all the cuddling and shagging you do, but at least take it upstairs.”

Sirius noticed a sudden wave of confidence in Remus’ crooked smile as he gave James a wink, “Don’t tell me you’re jealous. No worries, Prongs, if you require an encore, just knock twice before you come in.” Then he returned to his seat on the ottoman by the fireplace, looking extremely pleased with himself.

The only problem that was now Sirius was very hot and extremely confused. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, that Remus/Sirius kiss is such a tease. 
> 
> I do love comments, kudos, reviews, or alternatively, follow me on tumblr: jprongsx!


	6. Jenny Davies and the Very Bad Stag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After New Year's Eve at the Potter's home, the return to Hogwarts is anything but smooth. James, yet again, makes a complete arse out of himself (three times, actually) and manages to subsequently piss everyone off.

The sun was far too bright as it seeped through the curtains of the front room. James slowly blinked his eyes open to find that he was asleep on the couch. He must’ve passed out here and his parents either hadn’t come home or had just left him there. He straightened his glasses and looked around. The cushions were stacked like a fort against the dining room table, Peter was snoring underneath the coffee table and Lily was already awake in a change of clothes with wet hair, cleaning up the mess.

Groggily, he rolled off the couch, trying to get to his feet. “What in the bloody hell happened? I don’t remember much after midnight…” Instantly he felt sick and leaned on the back of a dining room chair, trying to make his way to the kitchen. 

Lily smiled and shook her head. “Well, I stopped drinking after Sirius put Peter through the hall mirror for who knows what - don’t worry, your dad repaired it before your mum even noticed. And I took care of you lot until one by one, you passed out.” She was wiping down the countertop from where someone had apparently failed miserably at making a sandwich.

“Where are Sirius and Remus?” He yawned and then made it into the kitchen, a feat that seemed worthy of a medal in his current state.

“Sirius is in his bed and Remus was asleep under the dining room table in the pillow fort, but woke up about an hour ago and went upstairs because it was too bright and he needed to sleep off his hangover.” She shook her head, giving a laugh, “You four just didn’t stop. It was actually pretty good fun until I had to send Sirius to bed.”

James shrugged, “That’s a normal night for us.” He stood beside her, pushed his hair back, and put a hand to the small of her back. “How are you feeling?”

“Just fine, thanks.” She removed his hand, but he wanted an update. She still hadn’t really spoken about what was going on in her head.

Biting his lip, he put a finger underneath her chin and turned her to face him, “You can talk to me, you know. If you need to. I’m trying this whole routine where I’m not so much of a - how did you put it so eloquently? - spoiled little toerag with no concept of human emotion.” He snapped his fingers with his free hand. “That’s the one. I’ve taken your suggestion of listening to more than just myself fully on board.” It was pretty obvious that he was proud of himself.

“Be that as it may, James Potter,” Lily said, putting her index finger to his nose, “It’s only when it suits you. BUt, alas, I am doing okay. I miss home, my parents, and my life, but I can’t mope forever.” When he smiled at her, she smiled back and leaned on her tiptoes to kiss the tip of his nose, “Thank you for trying and caring. Now try to put that into perspective once we get back to Hogwarts.”

When her lips touched his nose, it send a fire of emotions through him. His smile grew and he gnawed on the inside of his lip, “Within reason, I may be able to accommodate that.”

“It would be a nice change for once.” 

The redhead winked at him and went to pass him, but he grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him again. James cupped one of her cheeks and leaned down to kiss her. Lily reacted instantly and quite harshly, if you ask him. Before he even managed to get to her lips, she had shoved him away like a plague and backed away.

Embarrassed and pride ripped to shreds, James choked out an apology. “Lily - Lily, I’m sorry. I thought -”

“You thought wrong!” She slapped the tea towel she’d been drying dishes with against the counter and then gave him a look that made him want to crawl under the dining room table fort and stay there until term started. “Potter, you can’t just do that. I’m not ready for - I don’t feel that way - You’re like a fucking brother to me right now. Wait - that’s - I -”

His heart sank into his stomach. “Forget it. I’m sorry, I misread things. Really sorry. I’m gonna go.” He messed up his hair, snatched his jacket from the coat hooks by the back kitchen door and left out, walking towards the garage to get his broom. He didn’t look back to see Lily’s face and he knew it was selfish, but he also knew he messed up, acted on impulse, and potentially was still quite drunk.

 

By the time term started, they were okay again. He didn’t try to really touch her and she seemed unphased by his attempt to kiss her - even though she kissed him first. As they got off the train and made their way up to the castle, he tried to push it all behind him. She’d gone off at the platform with the other prefects and he hadn’t seen her since his parents had offered her a place to stay anytime she needed it. Afterwards, Lily had hugged and thanked them, promising to write his mum.

James ruffled his hair and fixed his glasses, trying to put on an air of arrogance so no one would realize the humiliation he was going through. And the start of term feast wasn’t helping. She had sat down next to him, shoving him gently and he smiled weakly, 

“You know, I kind of expected a big ol’ ear-to-ear  egotistical grin now that you’re back in your throne, James Potter.” She nudged him, chastising. “I don’t even think I heard you hex anyone!”

He shot her a glance and raised an eyebrow, still licking his wounds in retreat after last weekend. “And you’re complaining?”

Lily rolled her eyes, “I’m concerned, Potter. Are you ill?” She put her palm to his forehead and crinkled her nose, “Nope, no fever.”

Swatting away her hand, he leaned in, “Sorry, just testy today. Don’t worry about it, Evans. I’ll be back to stunning Slytherins just as soon as I get over myself. Need a few days to warm up and then you can start docking points from me on a daily basis again. “ He patted her knee, gave her a wink, and then turned to the other three.

Remus pretended to have been drinking tea and reading the paper the entire time, Peter sneezed and then blessed himself for it, digging into his sausage and fried eggs, and Sirius started whistling with a stupid smirk on his face from directly across from him. He kicked his best mate in the shin hard and stayed nearly silent for the rest of the feast. James only ate a single piece of toast and was quite possibly the first person to leave the Great Hall after Dumbledore’s welcome speech. 

Hands in his pockets, James walked back up to the common room. At this rate, he just wanted to sit in the window with a cigarette and be left to his mood. He was annoyed with Lily, angry with himself, and so frustrated that he could probably rub up against a suit of armor to get himself off. 

He decided to take a detour outside and started walking towards the quidditch pitch without actually thinking about it. Typically that was where he ended up, no matter where he intended to go. He rolled and lit a cigarette as he came towards the stands, leaning against one of the Gryffindor posts. Turned out he hadn’t realized that maybe he wasn’t the first person to leave the Great Hall before the masses.

“Hey, Potter!” Jenny Davies, one of the Ravenclaw chasers approached him with a sly smile. “Weird to see you without Black. Don’t you two start developing separation anxiety after more than five minutes apart?” 

Forcing a laugh, he gave her a once over as she leaned up next to him, taking his cigarette much easier than he’d ever let her take the quaffle from him. Although, he must admit that she was fucking quick “Yeah, yeah. We’re trying this new technique where we’re building up our tolerance for not seeing each other. Kind of hard to sort yourself out if your best mate is over your shoulder the whole time, y’know?”

Jenny exhaled smoke through her nose and then pushed her long, dark hair to one side. “I get it. I was trying to have a snog with McKinnon and I couldn’t get Dorcas to bugger off.”

Now he was interested. Cocking his brow, he tried not to trip on his words. “Wait - McKinnon is into girls?”

“Almost exclusively. Why, you didn’t know? Merlin, James, you’re blind.”

“But her and Sirius have shagged.”

“I doubt that was anytime recently. She was seeing me in since last March. We split over Christmas because she shagged some Swiss witch on her family’s skiing holiday.” 

James tried to process all of it, “To be fair I didn’t know you - y’know. But I guess Sirius probably got her to agree to it for bragging rights. As far as any of us knew, he was still getting off with her last term.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Jenny rolled her eyes, “So what about you? I haven’t really seen you with anyone since fifth year. Are you and Evans - “

“I’m just not one to go shouting through the corridor that I’ve just shagged some bird in a broom cupboard. Bit more modest than Sirius, I am.” James laughed. “ But Evans? No. No, not at all. She thinks of me as a brother.”

“Ouch.” She took his cigarette again, and moved to stand in front of him. “Look, you’re seeming to have a pretty shit night as well, otherwise you’d be at the feast with your mates. So I’m going to put this bluntly..”

The next thing James knew, she had him by the tips of his fingers and was pulling him up to the first landing under the covered stands. The moonlight shined dully, and she stopped in the corner, pulling him to her. He figured,  _ fuck it _ , what did he actually have to lose now?

“I have something a bit better than just smoking tobacco as well, if you’re interested. Just to make things a bit more… y’know.”

“I do,” James replied and watched her take out a small joint. He lit it with the end of his wand while she inhaled, her spare hand gripping his tie. Taking the joint from her, he put it between his lips, inhaling and pulling her in close to him, so his knee was in between her legs. 

They passed it back and forth a few times, kissing in between and through curls of smoke. After she put it out and stepped on it with her boot, James leaned into her, pressing her back into the wooden beam.

Her lips were different than Lily’s and pretty much any other girl that he’d kissed. Jenny wasn’t very forgiving in her motions and favored her teeth. Her quidditch-callused hands pulled his tie loose and got the first few buttons of his shirt undone. As she did it, James could feel himself swelling, and he slid a hand up the back of her thigh, lifting one of her legs to bend at his waist so he could feel her arse.

“You like to lead, just like in a game, huh?” Jenny breathed as James took his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking in different spots. Honestly he just wanted to get her worked up and then fuck her. He was in no mood for dramatics and foreplay. He had that all holiday. 

“Natural born leader, me.” He bit down on her neck and slid his hand around her further, fingers nudging their way beneath her panties softly to feel how into this she was. He returned his mouth to hers as she whimpered uncontrollably under his teasing, brushing just his fingertips over her clit slowly. James could feel her pulse, blood rushing against him as he stroked her.

Digging her nails into the back of his neck, she bit down on his lip, “Fuck, Potter!”

“Hmm?” He took his touch away and pushed her leg down. “What?” He broke away from Jenny just for a second to pull at the remaining buttons until her shirt hung open enough for him to see her chest. Satisfied with that view, he went to undo his belt buckle, but she beat him to his, getting his trousers down at his ankles quickly.

Jenny quickly whispered a warming charm as they shivered slightly, and then she knelt down in front of him. James was in shock, he wasn’t expecting this. He put his hands into her dark locks and held on as she pulled him out of his pants and took his cock into her mouth very slowly. James’ entire body tensed and he let out an involuntary moan, feeling a bit lightheaded as she sucked at the tip and pumped his length at the same time. 

This was fucking surreal. Lily was talking to him like a best mate, he had fucked off from the start of term feast to run into Davies, who apparently liked guys and girls, and McKinnon swung the beater’s bat both ways too? He didn’t even care at this rate because Jenny had pulled him into her mouth and he hit the back of her throat.

“Jenny, you are something else…  _ Fuck _ .” She moved up and down him repeatedly and he started to pant, pulling at her hair with both hands, swearing and telling her how good she was. And then he had to grab the railing to brace himself against the wooden beam as he finished off into her mouth.

“Glad you enjoyed it. It’s been a while, so I might’ve been a bit rusty-”

As soon as she stood again, he threw her into the pole and tearing off her shirt entirely, pulling at her bra and unhooking the back. He tossed that to the ground and kissed his way down to her stomach, nipping every now and then, especially at her chest. When he got to her navel, James pulled off her panties from under her skirt, leaving that on for his personal preference and then kissed his way back up 

Their lips met again, both of them nearly out of breath. He was well aware that he didn’t normally do this anymore, but why not? Why wait for Lily any longer? She’s the one who said they’d developed a sibling relationship, so he needed to move on. Still thinking about her, he hiked Jenny’s legs up, and then guided himself into her, both of them moaning in turn as he thrusted into her the first time. Luckily she had gone down on him, otherwise this wouldn’t have lasted at all.

One hand held her thigh to his waist and the other cupped her breast as he drove into her, pushing her into the support beams in the stand again and again. She was warm and tight and he could feel her contract around him. 

In between whimpering as he fucked her, she leaned into his ear, “James, lay back, let me get on top.”

He shook his head, “No.” And then he pushed himself in deeper, bucking his hips harder at her.

“Lay down or I am going to leave you a mark on your neck that -” She couldn’t finish the sentence because he growled and pulled out of her, dripping with her enjoyment, and took her orders to get on his back. Jenny Davies straddled him and took control as she lowered herself so his cock slipped right back inside of her. 

James groaned and put his hands on her hips, pulling at her while she just looked down at him and smirked. When she finally did start moving again, he couldn’t help the noises that came out of him, gripping her hips, arse, and thighs, anywhere he could dig his fingers into. His back arched, trying to get as much of himself into her as he could. 

And as she rode against his hips, she started to moan loudly, her hands falling to his chest to keep herself up as she shook slightly from getting herself off while riding him. And watching her was enough to send James off. 

 

It was well past midnight when he got back to the common room. James tried to come in unnoticed, but as he walked in with his tie hanging undone, shirt hanging loose and carrying his robes when the three of them were sat on the edge of his bed with arms crossed: He wasn’t getting away with this one.

“Where in the bloody hell do you think you’ve been, James Ignotus Potter?” Sirius barked maternally.

“Out for a walk,” he responded, blankly. The battle between shame, pride, and lust coursed through him, leaving James in no mood for anyone’s bollocks.

“You’re brooding.” Remus looked concerned.

“You’re one to talk about brooding, Moony.”

“I’m never mean about it.” The werewolf was looking disapprovingly at the state of him.

“You’ve just gone and shagged someone,” Sirius said, reading James like a fucking book. “I know it wasn’t Lily because she came asking us where you were. She seems to think you’re off with her. As your best mates, this was news to us.”

“I’m sick of waiting on someone who no longer hates me, but now thinks of me like she would bloody sibling.” He pulled off his shirt, not caring, and threw his robes into a ball on the floor. 

“Who was it, then?” His best mate wanted to know, actually looking worried.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.” All three of them chimed in.

James dropped his trousers, climbing under his covers in just his pants. “Ravenclaw Chaser.”

Sirius coughed and nearly choked, looking over at him in bewilderment, “Which one?”

“Davies.”

His grey eyes were wide in surprise, “Jenny Davies? Tall, dark hair, hangs around Marlene McKinnon?”

“Not anymore she doesn’t. McKinnon cheated on her.”

The look of shock on Remus and Peter’s faces would’ve been priceless under better circumstances. Sirius didn’t look remotely phased about this statement.

“Apparently McKinnon prefers the female persuasion when it suits her.. So I really don’t see how you’ve been fucking her if she’s been dating Jenny since March. But, then again, that’s none of my business. Please get off my bed.” He leaned and shut the side curtains. 

“What are you trying to say James?” Remus glared at him, “We’re your friends. We’re just trying to help.”

Sirius stood, obviously pissed off and not going to respond to James about any of it. “No, Moony, leave him be. If he wants to act like a total cunt, then let him. He can go around fucking whoever he wants. Leave him to it.”

As Remus and Peter moved off the edge of his bed, he slammed that curtain shut as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the exact smut you wanted, huh? Do you really think James Potter waited around for Lily his entire adolescence? They were teenage boys, for Circe's sake! None of them waited around for anyone. Don't worry, you'll get some nice fluff and smut soon. Actually, there's loads of fluff in the next chapter!
> 
> Like any good Whedonite, though, nothing is ever easy. 
> 
> AS USUAL, comments, kudos, and reviews are absolutely fucking golden. And there's always tumblr: jprongsx.


	7. Regulus Black and the Mysteriously Sexy Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war outside of Hogwarts hits close to home and shocks everyone. In the midst of all of it, Regulus Black and Severus Snape get a bit more than they bargained for after hexing Remus.

Everyone was a bit on edge today. February was usually a great month as you were back into the swing of things, quidditch started back up, and the promise of an end to winter brought better spirits. Not this February. Instead, the Gryffindor Common Room was in a state of shock and terror. Remus sat in the dormitory looking at his arithmancy notes, the notes with her handwriting all over them. It was better than hearing everyone talk about her and be expected to say something himself. 

McGonagall had come in to break the news. They had all assumed that when she didn’t come back right away that her mother had gotten very ill again. No one had known that her father was an Auror. She didn’t talk much about him. But Mary was nice and she had even kissed Remus on quite a few occassions. She sat next to him in Arithmancy. Their Head of House had come in, hands shaking and pale as a ghost to tell them that Mary had been killed along with her entire family. And for a long time Minerva McGonagall sat with the Gryffindor students explaining the situation. She told them of death eaters and the killings, more than what most of them would have gotten from the papers. Sometimes she cried silently as she spoke.

He turned over Mary’s notes from last term. It was only himself and James in the dormitory, but James hadn’t spoken much to him in a few weeks, so they were currently pretending one another didn’t exist. Remus slid his legs over the bed, planning to go smoke a cigarette. Instead he ended up running to the toilet to throw up. Hugging the porcelain god, he saw his breakfast again, trying not to cry as well.

_ Thud _ . He heard James get up and it sounded like he’d punched something. Standing again on wobbly legs, Remus flushed, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and then poked his head out to find James hunched over his own legs in shame. 

Weeks of silence didn’t mean anything. This was his mate. He knelt beside him, and put his arms around James, “Hey, it’s alright. C’mere.” And James didn’t fight it. He fell over into Remus’ hug and broke down. 

“It could’ve been any of you.” James clung to Remus, and he rubbed his back, shushing him and holding him close. “And I would’ve never forgiven myself. We can’t keep secrets or lose each other.”

“Prongs are you drunk?”

“Among other things,” he admitted.

“You prick, c’mon, get into bed.” Remus couldn’t do this on his own, with the full moon coming in a few days, he had no strength. “Help me here, cause I can’t do it on my own.”

“Here, I’ll help.” Lily’s voice echoed behind them and she immediately stooped down to pull James’ other arm up. Between the both of them, they got him onto the bed, where he passed out. “What’s he done now?” 

Remus shrugged, “I don’t know. He’s been off since we came back. Hasn’t really spoken to me in two weeks before today. I took house points away for him showing up to Potions drunk.”

Her red, tear-stained cheeks nodded, and she sat on James’ bed. “I wanted to come talk to him. I’ve been  _ trying _ to talk to him. This is my fault because I rejected him.”

Remus put an arm around her, “It’s not anyone’s fault. All anyone could talk about on the train was the attacks and the rumors. A lot of people are on edge and being irrational.”

“And Mary’s just…”

“I know. I’ve been worried, and I’d owled her, but…”

“Me too.”

The sat there for a long time until Remus had a prefect duty. Lily said she was going to stay with James, to talk to him. And when he left he caught a glimpse of her curling up next to him, starting to cry again. Normally he knew all the right words to say for comfort, but not here. She’d lost her parents and was being so strong - or just trying not to even think about it - and now one of her best friends too? There just weren’t words.

He ran his hands through his hair, seeing his reflection and the dark circles under his eyes. Really, none of them had been sleeping and as he walked the halls, hands in the pockets of his robes, he noticed similar marks underneath most students eyes. There was going to be a vigil for her tomorrow, well, for all three of the McDonald children. Mary was in Gryffindor, but her brother Matt was in Ravenclaw, and the youngest was a first year Hufflepuff. 

The only students not looking affected by the shock were, unsurprisingly most of the Slytherin house. A few of them had been friends with Matt, but he was a very likable, unbiased individual. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team had big shoes to fill,  as Sirius had said this morning to James, but James hadn’t even responded. Remus wondered if Sirius was finished with his detention yet as he rounded the corner into the corridor where Filch’s office was. Poor bloke had gotten stuck doing filing after hexing Mucliber for saying the McDonalds had it coming. Flitwick had given them both detention, Sirius with Filch and Mulciber with Kettleburn. 

Up ahead he heard Sirius’ voice and grinned, turning the corner quickly, ready to talk to someone who’d actually be able to smile with him and make him forget it all for a few minutes. But Sirius wasn’t alone. He was sitting on the window ledge with his arms around a sobbing Marlene McKinnon. He kissed her forehead and brushed her long, straight blonde hair out of her face, just holding her while she cried.

At first Remus didn’t think Sirius had seen him, but then Sirius looked up at him, giving him a weak half smile. Guess he was sleeping with her again. Was this jealous that tugged something in his stomach? He felt very heavy. but being that it was Marlene, he crossed the hall and put a hand on her back reassuringly.

Marlene lifted her head out of Sirius’ shirt and looked over at him. She looked a lot worse off than he did, “Hey, Remus.” The blonde sat up and let go of Sirius a minute to lean in and hug him as well. And he held her tightly for a minute. “I just can’t believe she’s gone.”

“Me either, Marls.” He let her go and she returned to lean back on Sirius, trying to wipe her face dry using the sleeve of her jumper. “Sirius, did you already finish your detention?”

Sirius nodded and sighed, “I was surprised, but then I found Marlene out here and haven’t made it up to the common room yet.”

“You should get back soon. They told the prefects earlier to crack down on students being out after hours.” He patted Sirius on the shoulder, feeling even worse than before he started off down the hall.

Why did he suddenly care who Sirius hooked up with? He never had before. Remus tried to shake it off. He needed a distraction other than just wandering and looking for something out of place. While he was getting up to the third floor, he thought he heard Sirius again, but then realized quite quickly once the voice laughed that it was definitely not his best mate.

“Yeah, Mum is well pleased. Says that I’m carrying on the Black name proudly and she’s sure that with the people my father knows, I’ll move up the ranks.”

“Can I see it?!”

“I don’t have it  _ yet _ .” The voice that he knew all too well, so similar to his favorite person’s voice. Regulus was getting something that his parents would be proud of? “Should happen this summer. For a handful of the select few of us.”

And then he heard the second voice more clearly. “So, you think I’m on that list?”

_ Snape _ .

“I’m sure. According to Malfoy-”

Regulus had spotted him, Remus gripped his wand from inside his robes, “You two do realize that it’s after hours and you’re supposed to be back in your dormitory or common room, right?” 

Sirius’ younger brother sneered, “And what are you going to do about it, Lupin?”

_ Remain calm.  _ Remus had to remind himself to just keep his cool. “If you don’t start walking, I’ll need to dock house points and then after that I would have to take you to your head of house.”

“Piss off and go mind your own business,” Severus Snape said through a grimace. “Go find someone who actually cares about house points.”

“Twenty points from Slytherin.” Remus rolled his eyes, walking closer. “Each. Now get back to the dungeons.”

But now Snape and Black were drawing their wands and Remus pulled his out of his pocket as well.

“I’m warning you that this isn’t a good idea. Disobeying a prefect and pulling your wands on him? Detention for both of you with McGonagall.” He raised his voice, hoping maybe Sirius and Marlene were somehow in earshot.

“Your kind will be next.” Snape spat at him.

“What are you getting at, Snape? Are you making threats?”

“He isn’t making the threats. It’s just a fact.” Regulus laughed and raised his wand higher, “Severus, try the one you told me about earlier.”

Snape’s mouth curled into a terrifying grin, “Sectumsempra!”

Obviously he underestimated him, as anyone with an ounce of sense knew that he was top of their class in Defense and the first to master nonverbal spells alongside Sirius. Remus waved his wand.  _ Protego _ . “You need to get back to your common room. Now.” His hand was shaking, getting very angry.

He protected a few more hexes and curses, but then Regulus waved his wand at the cabinet beside Remus, exploding it. While he shielded his face and body from the splinters, Snape yelled the previous spell again, this time hitting Remus hard.

He could hear himself scream and fall backwards, almost as if he’d merely been a bystander. It was difficult to breath and everything was warm and wet. Lifting up a hand, he could see red, a lot of red. That’s when the pain set in.

 

Had the full moon happened and he just didn’t remember it? Remus Lupin woke up with the bright white of the infirmary surrounding him. His body felt sore and stiff, but it shouldn’t have been the full moon for another week. What the fuck was happening? He tried to sit up, but gentle hands pushed down on his shoulders and Remus screamed in pain.

“Remus! Remus, no!” Sirius was holding him down, “Madam Pomfrey, he’s awake! We need to sedate him more!” His voice sounded panicked and as he looked back down at Remus, his eyes were wide and terrified. He seemed to survey Remus’ chest and body, but Remus wasn’t sure why.

The good natured, middle aged healer was at his side, also trying to restrain him. “Remus, you must stay laying down. I’m doing everything I can, but I can’t find anything to heal the wounds. Luckily you heal a bit faster than the average wizard, or I believe things would be much worse. We need you to stay still until the Headmaster can get here.”

“What’s going on? What’s happened?” Remus begged, wanting to know why he felt like someone had ripped into him as badly as his wolf.

“I- I don’t exactly know. I heard an explosion and you screamed and I found you…” Sirius leaned in close to his face, “Remus, I found you like this. It’s like all of your worst scratches and bites combined.”

And then he could hear the doors being pushed open and panting.

“We came as soon as we heard! Where is he? Sirius?!” James Potter and Peter Pettigrew joined him at his side. “Who did this to you, Moony? I’ll kill ‘em!” James growled in anger.

“I remember Snape and Regulus talking and I asked them to go back to their common room.” Remus was trying to remember.

“ _ Students _ did this to you?!” Madam Pomfrey looked horrifically astounded. 

Sirius’ hands began to shake, and Remus was feeling dizzy. 

When he woke up again, it was dark, but Sirius was still at his side. He must have pulled a chair up to Remus’ bed in the hospital wing as currently he was sleeping with his arms folded at Remus’ side and his head resting on top of them. Remus lifted his hand slowly, still very groggy, and brushed the long dark hair away from his face.

It must’ve startled him awake, because he immediately opened his eyes and looked up defensively. As soon as he saw that it was just Remus, he sighed in relief and smiled softly over to him. “Hey, you’re awake!” Sirius moved closer to him and started fumbling around by his chest, “Stay still, let me check these.”

“Check what? What’s going on, Pads?” 

He looked over at him, grey eyes filled with concern. “Apparently Snape’s hit you with some curse that causes these deep gashes all over your body. Dumbledore was able to heal them and repair the damage. Madam Pomfrey doesn’t  _ think _ they’ll add to your collection of mysteriously sexy scars, but she’s put a lot of ointment on you anyhow. And she’s let me stay here with you tonight.”

“What do you mean gashes?”

Sirius bit his lip and Remus’ stomach fluttered. “It looked like someone had taken a sword to your chest multiple times. I’ll kill him Remus, I swear.” And then Sirius was really close, cupping his cheek, “Can you feel any pain still?”

“It just feels like the day after a full moon now. Not as bad as when I woke up earlier.” Remus nuzzled into Sirius’ hand, enjoying the touch and comfort. “But I don’t want you to kill him, that’s too easy.” He tried to stifle a laugh, “And I want to be able to take a swing at him as well, you know.”

Sirius looked sideways. “I already did that.” His cheeks flushed a bit. “Madam Pomfrey had kicked me out of here when I first carried you down.”  _ Carried me down? _ “And you had mumbled something about Regulus.” Looking at him properly, Remus saw that he was covered in red. He felt sick. “So I went after him and broke his nose, his wand, and I think I may have even knocked a tooth out. I had found him right by the Library. It took James, Peter,  _ and _ McGonagall to pull me off of him.”

“Why would you do that?”

“If you could’ve seen… Remus, if you could’ve seen what they did to you. When I initially got to you, I thought you were dead. I thought I had lost you and it scared me.”

Remus shook his head, “No, why would you do that for  _ me _ ? You could’ve gotten in a lot of trouble.”

“Like detention every Saturday for the rest of term? Like helping first years with Transfiguration in McGonagall’s classroom every Tuesday until she deems I’ve learned some valuable lesson?” He smiled sheepishly and that smile killed Remus.

Forcing himself, he pushed up on his elbows. “I probably don’t want to know how many house points, huh?”

“None. McGonagall has seen what they did to you, so I got off pretty easy. Regulus and Snape both have detentions every Saturday and Sunday until the end of term. They also have to write letters of apologies to you and Regulus is banned from the last two Quidditch matches of the year.” He laughed, “And Slytherin lost three hundred house points in one go.”

Remus smiled at the notio., “Well, at least something good came of it.”

 

When he was finally released from the hospital wing, James and Sirius helped him back to the common room while Peter went to get him loads of chocolate from the kitchens. Apparently he should be pretty much healed in time to tear himself to bits for the full moon. The thought scared him, plus the fact that he would be missing at least a week of classes. But his three best friends had promised to take good notes. And if they didn’t, Lily would anyway.

It felt good to be back in his own bed. “Thanks, guys.” Sirius was sat next to him, playing with his hair and hovering protectively. James was at the side of the bed, sitting on one leg with the other draping off the side. And Peter plopped a mass amount of chocolate onto his bed before crossing his legs at his feet.

James smiled to him, having already apologized for being an absolute dickhead to him. “We already have something planned for Snivellus.”

“That’s if we get to him first. The majority of the house is gunning for him after word got out how badly he injured you. Surprised he wasn’t expelled, really,” Sirius muttered. 

“How would he have even created a spell to do that?” Peter looked perplexed, but then again, he wasn’t the greatest at wrapping his head around intangible ideas.

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, he’ll get his.” Sirius sounded very dark saying that. “Alright, you two scatter so he can actually sleep!”

Rolling his eyes, he swatted at Sirius, “I’m not an invalid! I’m actually okay, just sore and a bit gimpy.” He leaned up to grab a chocolate bar, wincing as his chest felt like it was ripping open. He didn’t let them realize how bad it all hurt for fear they’d do something incredibly stupid.

Sirius pushed him back down, “You are an invalid. And I promised Madam Pomfrey I’d care for you.”

“She called you a useless toad, mate.” James snorted.

“It doesn’t matter. Moony, just say that you want something.” Sirius handed the chocolate to him after unwrapping it.

“You going to feed it to me as well?”

“If you wish.”

Remus opened his mouth, guessing he could be pampered for a bit. But then James shoved the whole chocolate bar into his mouth and they all laughed. Eventually James and Peter went down into the common room, but Sirius stayed with him, closing the curtains and helping him get out of his clothes so he was more comfortable.

“What pajamas do you want?”

“I think I’ll just stay in my pants, if I’m honest. It’s really warm in here.”

Sirius bit his lip, holding back saying something, but smiling nevertheless. “Well, I can’t really blame you with me being in the bed and all.”

“You’re such a prick, Sirius Black.” Remus smiled up at him, and pulled the covers up to his waist. But as Sirius went to get up, he grabbed his arm, “Hey, wait.” He didn’t want him to leave. Actually, he wanted him to stay with him, just like he did some nights when they would just be too tired to bother, or if they’d fallen asleep reading. 

“Yeah?” He looked down at him and Remus noticed that his eyes kept flickering to his chest and where the covers began under his navel. He chocked it up to Sirius just looking at the healing gashes though and not anything more. He could still hope though. Why did he hope that his best mate was looking at him in  _ that way?  _

“Stay with me?”

A wide grin played across Sirius’ face and he climbed into the bed and under the covers. He always seemed to be completely full of life, even when he was brooding and moody. It was like the sun shined out of his arse or something. “Of course, Moony, dearest. Shall I fetch you a book?”

“The Moliere.”

The grin spread wider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to any big Mary fans out there, but it was a necessary evil. On the bright side, mild Remus/Sirius fluff!
> 
> Next chapter is Lily, as I'm sure you could have guessed. 
> 
> Comments and reviews are absolutely wonderful, just saying! And as always, feel free to find me on tumblr as well: jprongsx.


	8. Pond Scum and the Bloody Unreliable Tap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily is trying to come to terms with death and grief at the same time as not have a coronary about James' actions. Of all people, she turns to Sirius.

The redhead found herself on the Astronomy Tower, leaning over it with Marlene at her side. They still left enough room for Mary, as if she’d be walking up any minute to tell them both to suck it up and let’s go judge people as they walk into the Great Hall for supper. Her Scottish accent made everything either seem insanely funny or very exciting most of the time. Lily was having a hard time doing this whole thing about  _ not  _ dealing with death. Her parents was something she didn’t even think she’d processed yet. There was a feeling that at any moment the other shoe would drop and the hole that was inside of her would start draining every bit of happiness from her until there was nothing left.

“You’re doing it again.”

Lily turned to her best friend, giving her a soft smile, “Sorry. I don’t mean to.”

“I know.” Marlene stared out into the dark, her face tired-looking. Normally she was all made up in makeup with perfect flowing blonde hair and sometimes Lily swore that she charmed her lips into a coy pout. Today she looked raw, determined. It was a new age for Marlene McKinnon.

“Did you see, on the board in the common room, that we’re to have one on one meetings with Professor McGonagall again right before exams? We’re the only house doing that. Everyone else just did at the start of the year.” Lily had been doing a lot of thinking about this.

Nodding Marlene leaned her head sideways to rest on Lily’s shoulder. “Yeah, I saw. Kind of dreading it ‘cause you know she’s going to slip in career talks. What am I supposed to tell her? I’d love to play Quidditch, but that’s not seen as a ‘career path’.”

Lily laughed and half nuzzled Marlene, “I think I want to fight.”

“Fight?”

“Yeah, like, maybe not properly. But I want to do some sort of good. I want to heal people, I want to make a difference.”

“So, you want to fight the other side and then heal them after you’ve bloodied them up a bit?”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, Lils, I do. Maybe that’s what I’ll do - fight. I’ll fight for Mary.” She could tell Marlene was smiling without even looking. If anyone could go out there and fight, it was her. She was a firecracker and one hell of a young woman. Anyone that had been on the receiving end of one of her hexes was well aware. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course. Anything.” She put an arm around her shoulder.

“So I think I was in love with Jenny Davies.”

Okay, not what she was expecting at all. Lily pulled away so she could face her and try to read her a bit more. “What do you mean?”

“I was dating Jenny Davies since last March. And then I screwed it up. I slept with a girl I met in Switzerland over Christmas.” Marlene’s cheeks were red, a bit embarrassed. “I like women, Lily. Guys are fun and nice to screw around with every now and then, but I like girls too. And I think I loved Jenny.”

Nodding, Lily wasn’t exactly surprised, but somehow it blindsided her. “Okay, so you loved her. And you like girls. So go tell her that, apologize, and then get on with it?” She smirked over at her. What did she think, that Lily was going to tell her that she couldn’t talk to her anymore? 

“You’re taking this shockingly well, Miss Evans.” The two of them exchanged looks and then laughed the kind of laugh that they’d needed for weeks.

Arm in arm they walked towards the Great Hall. “Two questions. So, all those times you claimed you were with Sirius Black? And are you going to try and win her back? This time actually telling me about it?”

“Some of those times were Sirius Black. But that boy has his own issues to work out, so it’s fun to do that with him.” 

“Based on the reaction he gave me when I tried to check on Remus earlier, I’d say his issues are pretty obvious.”

Marlene winked at her and Lily wasn’t sure what she meant exactly, but she also wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. “And no. She’s already moved on and has slept with other people.”

“Oh, that sucks. Who with?”

“Well, one was a Hufflepuff seventh year girl….” Marlene chewed on the inside of her lip. “And the other one doesn’t matter.”

Lily snorted, “That says a lot, c’mon, you’re an absolute wealth of gossip. Who?”

“James.” Marlene said just as they got to the Great Hall.

Lily stopped dead in her tracks in the threshold of the large doors. She felt sick and had no appetite. Why did it matter so much? She swallowed hard and squeaked, “Oh. Okay.” Not fifteen feet from her was James Potter himself. She didn’t know why she cared so much. Okay, yes she did, but that was besides the point.

“Hey…” Marlene nudged her, “I wasn’t going to say anything because you two have been getting close, like friends. I figured you either knew or…”

“Or it doesn’t matter. James Potter is just a prat. He can be nice and sweet when it’s convenient when it matters and when you need him to be, but-” She didn’t have anything else to say. Lily’s eyes found Jenny at the Ravenclaw table with her wavy brown hair and her tall, slender figure. 

“Lily, you alright?”

“Yep. Peachy keen.”

“You’re not.”

They sat down at the Gryffindor house table, and she made it a point to have her back to James Potter. There was shepherd’s pie for dinner, but she merely just pushed it around her plate. 

Marlene finally spoke again, “You didn’t think he’s been just waiting around for you all these years, do you? He’s had his fair share of debauchery.”

“I guess I never really considered it. I kind of just imagined-”

“That when you were ready to try him out he’d be there like a loyal puppy all pure and precious and wholly yours? It’s Potter, Lily. Get realistic. The boy has seen the inside of more than a few broom cupboards.” Marlene laughed and then started going on about Merlin knew what. Lily was just suddenly uninterested.

 

“Evans, did you take good notes in Potions yesterday?” James flopped down next to her by the lake as she was studying.. “I want to take them to Moon- Remus. He’s still pretty messed up and mine aren’t even coherent. I don’t want him to suffer because I was incompetent.” 

“I did.” She didn’t even bother looking at him, she didn’t really want to.

James nudged her, “Can I have them?”

“Remus can.”

“Alright, what’s with you? You’re like a bloody unreliable tap lately.” He nudged her again, this time a bit harder. “It’s either hot or cold. I’m all for you coming to me when you need a chat and a shoulder, but it would be nice if you could talk to me other times as well.”

Finally snapping her head around to look at him, she rolled her eyes and shoved her Potions notebook at him. “Why don’t you just ask Jenny Davies?”

Ah, she had struck him silent. He let his bottom lip drop slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do.”

He pulled out his tobacco and papers and she hated it when he did that. She hated that he smoked and that he made it look so cool and smooth and he just looked like James Dean. She needed to stop making that connection. “It doesn’t matter either way.”

James lit his cigarette. “Apparently it does.” They sat for a while without saying anything for a long time. Lily studied Transfiguration and James exhaled smoke while skipping stones against the surface of the water. When he finally spoke again, it wasn’t anything that she wanted to hear. “I can’t wait around forever for you to decide whether or not you want me, Lily.”

Whenever he called her  _ Lily _ rather than by her surname it sent a weird chill through her. She tried not to think about it, but it was hard when he was even just having trouble taking her eyes off him. “I never said you needed to.”

“You seem to have expected me to. You said you feel for me like a brother, so I found a way to try and move on. I won’t ask you out anymore. And I won’t try to kiss you again, so I’d just ask that you offer me the same courtesy unless you’re ready for the real thing.” He stood, picked up the Potions book, and walked off towards the castle, flicking his cigarette butt somewhere into the grass.

It was only a few minutes before he was replaced by someone else. Someone she actually tried to ignore.

“Lily…”

“Go away, Severus. We are no longer speaking. Ever.” She let her long red hair fall like a curtain between him and her book.

“I need to speak to you.”

“Go away or I’ll hex you myself. There is nothing to discuss.”

‘Lily, I -”

Lily Evans looked up, wand in her hand. “Don’t. You are a foul, vile little boy who is playing with things he doesn’t understand and could’ve killed Remus Lupin. You disgust me.” She had a fire in her eyes that even she wasn’t used to. “Either leave me alone or I will hex you.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Yes, you are.” Behind him stood Sirius Black, who also had his wand drawn, glaring a hole into the back of him that Lily was actually surprised didn’t spontaneously combust and swallow Severus whole.

“Sirius, just leave it. He isn’t even worth it.” She put her wand down and stood, going to his side. She understood why he was so angry, a lot more than he probably realized she did.

His long brown hair was falling out of it’s bun and even as she tenderly tried to pull his arm down, but he shook her off. “You saw what he did to him.”

“To whom? Your boyfriend? Lupin still in bed, then? Boy can’t even take a simple hex.” Severus taunted him, his own wand out now, pointed right at Sirius’ chest with a vindictive grin plastered across his pale face.

“I’m warning you, Snivelly, either walk away or I’m going to make it so you can’t walk.”

Lily stepped in between them, “Sirius, c’mon, let’s go. Professor Vector is walking this way.”

That drew his focus and he let his wand down, “Get your stuff, Lily. I’ll walk back to the tower with you. Get you away from the pond scum that’s gathered itself around the Lake.”

She scooped up her books, and hooked elbows with Sirius, more dragging him away than anything as his gaze was still locked with Snape’s until she pulled him inside. And then she slapped him, “Sirius, you can’t just go after him and curse him.”

Rage was coursing through him. “If he would’ve… I can’t. I can’t, Lily. You don’t understand.”

She took both of his wrists, “Yes. I do. Sirius Black, it is written all over your face everytime you look at him. I’ve known for a while now.”

That seemed to break his concentration. “You’ve known what?”

“The way you feel about him. You don’t exactly hide it well.”

His gray eyes searched her for more, but he couldn’t seem to form the words to say anything.

“Am I right?” She tried really, really hard not to grin, but she was pretty sure it was showing. 

Sirius Black put his head in his hands and slid down to sit against the wall. Closing his eyes, he looked pained and in a state of defeat. “Am I that obvious?” Lily nodded as she knelt down next to him and he groaned, hiding his face. “You can’t say anything, please? Not even to James.”

“I don’t think James wants me to say  _ anything _ to him right now.” She sighed and pulled him into a hug. “I kind of, possibly, accidentally had a go at him about something stupid. And he’s upset with me - more than he already was.”

Sirius relaxed a bit and put an arm around her. In the past their conversations mostly would revolve around their families, but every once in a very great while he would mention Remus. She almost never spoke about James to him, but since Christmas, it wasn’t the first time. “Lily, be honest. Do you like him like that? Enough to act on the jealousy and send him in circles?”

She groaned. “I don’t know. I’m… I’m not ready for that. He’s been so amazing since my parents died and I don’t know what I would have done without him. He didn’t take advantage of me when he could’ve and he’s made exactly one serious move on me since then. I just don’t know if I’m ready for anything even in the realm of intimacy or relationship-y right now. Sirius, what do I do?” Yes, she was actually asking Sirius Black for help, Circe save her.

“You let him go.” He looked over at her, matter of factly and she wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or about himself. “You let him go while you figure yourself out. Don’t give him that hope, don’t string him along. Because when you’re ready for him, it’ll be the right time. He needs to live his life and make his mistakes with whoever he needs to make them with.”

“James or Remus?” Lily elbowed his rib, winking. 

“I’ve known for a very long time how I felt about Remus Lupin. I just have never been ready for those feelings. And I don’t know what I’ll do if and when he tells me that they aren’t returned.” Sirius was frank and honest when it came to matters like this, it’s why even though she may not always agree with his actions, she could always talk through things with him. “But you need to get there with James. The good thing is, you and everyone in this bloody castle knows how he feels about you.”

“Big, giant, girly crush on the feisty redhead. Yep. Everyone knows.”

“Lily, the prick is mad for you. It’s why he’s never been able to hold onto anyone. He can’t give them all of himself. But don’t use that to put him on a leash.” Sirius gave her a peck on the cheek, “So sort out your shit and then you can start making him feel guilty for shagging Ravenclaw girls that he doesn’t even really like.”

It was a hard pill to swallow, but he was right. Repression may be a necessary evil right now. She smiled at him. “Thanks, Sirius.”

“Anytime. Now, I must go see a man about a dog.” He looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows, knowing she wouldn’t understand. “I think today is the day.”

Her jaw dropped and she started clapping with excitement. “Merlin, really? I want the juicy details, you big girl.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the Lily/Sirius dynamic. You'll see a lot more of it in chapters to come. 
> 
> Posting this a bit early because we're going to the pub and I can't vouch for tomorrow's state and whether it would get posted. :P
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has read, liked, commented, sent me messages over tumblr - all of it. It makes my entire week every time I see a new one. I love to hear from you and it's great to know that people are enjoying AOBM as it's a ton of fun to write. As usual, feel free to find me on tumblr: jprongsx.


	9. Stolen Chocolate and the Horribly Accidental Prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius gets exactly what he wants and then fucks everything up.
> 
> I'm sure you can guess where this chapter is going.

As he pushed open the door to the common room, he smiled to see that Remus wasn’t alone. Peter was sat in bed with him and they were laughing about something while James was sorting through his homework for him, rolling his eyes. Sirius couldn’t help but grin and then as Remus looked up at him, his heart melted. He was getting a lot better, but the three of them still would barely even let him wipe his own arse. Yesterday he’d been taking a shower and they could hear him wincing in pain the entire time, but he was too proud to ask for help. He always was.

He caught Remus’ amber eyes and watched the smile play across his face. “All right, you lot, piss off so Sirius can rub this bloody cream on me. It’s mortifying enough that he has to do it without you watching.”

James wiggled his eyebrows at him, “Cream, huh, Moony?”

“Go  _ cream _ yourself somewhere else. I can’t have you gawking at me for no better reason than that you’re, Merlin forbid,  _ bored _ .” Remus shoved him and he obliged, shaking his head. “You too, Wormtail. Off with the both of you.”

Sirius waited until they’d left the room before approaching Remus’ bed. “I mean, if you wanted me to clear the room so I could get you out of those clothes, all you had to do was ask.” He winked and flopped next to him, “I brought you chocolate.”

“You  _ stole _ me chocolate.” He scolded him and sat up, starting to pull off his shirt. When Sirius could see that he was struggling with it, he knelt next to him and helped him gently. “Thanks, mate. I’m a fucking useless twat these days. I’d like to be able to go for a wee on my own without Peter asking if I’m alright.” 

Sirius handed him the chocolate and then reached over to grab the cream. He unscrewed the cap and then pushed him down on his back again. “They look much better. You can hardly notice them.”

“Still sore though.” The cold cream against his bare skin made Remus tense up and laugh. “Easy, Padfoot! It’s bloody cold.” They did look much better, thigh. They were no longer red and angry, but more blended in with Remus’ other scars. As he rubbed everything in, he traced the patterns, trying to hide his smile.

Sirius was so used to this by now that he had them all memorized fondly. His personal favorite was a particularly long scar that stretched from his right shoulder, across his chest, and over his abdomen to the opposite thigh. “Alright, move up so I can get the ones on your neck and shoulder.” And as Remus moved, Sirius ran his hands over Remus’ chest in small circles, making his way to his neck and shoulder.

“Mmm.” Closing his eyes, Remus let his sandy brown hair fall away from his face as he leaned his head back, “You may as well just give me a back massage while you’re at it. Screw the chocolate, that’ll just put me to sleep.”

Laughing, Sirius adjusted and sat behind him, “Alright, but you owe me a  _ long _ back massage in return and I will be coming to collect that debt.” He especially didn’t mind rubbing his back as he could feel the ripples of muscle under tightly-stretched skin. Sirius’ mind was going to unsavory things, so he just worked through the knots around his shoulders, trying to think of anything. Yes, literally anything. Filch. Uncle Cygnus’ hairy nose wart. Kreature reproducing. 

“For this I’ll pretty much give you anything you want.” As he kneaded around his spine, he could feel Remus loosening up some, relaxing. “You’re too good to me - when you’re not being an absolute arse.”

Biting his lip, Sirius wanted so badly just to kiss him again like on New Years. Instead he let one of his hands slide down Remus’ side in order to brush his stomach softly, taking whatever he could get. He was only paining himself in this. But Remus’ fingertips followed his hand. “I’m never an arse.”

This made the other boy laugh, and then cry out, grasping at his chest as he did so because laughing still hurt for Remus. “You’re being an arse right now.”

“How?!” He stopped giving him a back massage and moved around to his side, scoffing at him. “I brought you chocolate and I’m massaging you!”

Remus raised a brow, turning towards him.. “Because I swear to Godric, Sirius Black, if you don’t kiss me sometime soon, I’m going to just melt into a puddle and then you’ll have a right time on your hands explaining that one.” His reaction must have been something amusing because Remus’ face cracked into a smile and he started laughing again.

“You… Wait, I-”

He grabbed his collar and pulled him toward him, “Just shut up.”

And then Remus’ lips crashed into his, perfect and desperate. Never had he imagined that Remus would be the one to initiate, but he thoroughly enjoyed it. Sirius pushed himself around on the bed, swinging a leg over Remus’ lap to straddle him before kissing him again, sliding a hand around the back of his neck.

Smiling into the kiss, Sirius nipped at Remus’ bottom lip before running his tongue over it. Remus’ fingers began fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and putting two cold hands to his chest. “I thought I’d dropped more than enough hints.” Had he really been that oblivious to it? “I mean, I kissed you on New Year’s Eve and everything.”

“Sorry I’m such an idiot.” And then Sirius kissed him harder, his breathing becoming labored. “I was waiting on the right time to say something.”

“Mmm,” He pulled off his shirt, and moved his lips to his chest, “That’s your problem. You talk too much.” 

Remus’ kisses along his chest felt amazing and he tangled his fingers into his best mate’s hair, holding him there, beginning to feel weak. They could hear voices and stomping on the dormitory stairs, and Sirius growled low in his throat as Remus pulled away from him.

“To be continued.” Remus leaned in and kissed him once more before handing him hirt shirt. 

Sirius tried to catch his breath, a huge grin across his face, putting his shirt back on, but not bothering with the buttons. He slid a hand down his arm and pushed his fingers into his, holding on tightly. “Can’t wait.”

“Oi! Padfoot!” James called, opening the door.

Sighing, he turned and smiled at James, “Yes, deer?”

 

There was a spring in his step the following day, knowing it was the full moon and still believing that he could taste Remus’ lips on his. He had even managed to sneak a good morning kiss in before Potions. Now he just had a few minutes to get back to the common room and then he could walk his favorite werewolf down into the shrieking shack where they’d have a good bit of time alone. Sirius ran a hand through his chin-length dark hair, a stupid grin plastered on his face.

“Black!”

The grin disappeared fairly quickly as he turned to see Severus Snape yelling toward him, “What can I do you for, Snivellus? I’m afraid that I’ve got no shampoo to cure… whatever that is on top your head. Good luck, mate.” He just wanted to get up to Gryffindor Tower where a certain sandy-haired boy would be waiting for him at the portrait hole. 

And somehow that’s how he’d gotten here, on the floor in a classroom that he couldn’t really tell where he was. But he tried pushing himself up and could barely support his own weight. Had he been stunned? That’s what it felt like. He put a hand to his face, and pulled it back to realize he was bleeding. 

“Nice of you to finally wake up, Black.” Severus Snape sat on top a desk, looking down at him. He seemed all too pleased with himself.

Sirius glared and finally was able to get to his feet by pulling himself up on a chair. “Did you fucking stun me and drag me in here?”

“No, I stunned you and then did  _ this. _ ” He flicked his wand. “Levicorpus! It seemed to amuse quite a few people.”

Suddenly Sirius found himself upside down hanging mid air at Snape’s will. “I swear you either put me down right here or I will end you!”

“As you wish.”

And Sirius dropped to the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. Pulling his wand from his pocket, he rolled over and disarmed the Slytherin boy. “You are a vile bastard and I am going to fuck you up.” Again he stumbled to his feet just in time to catch Snape’s wand. “Now what are you going to do?”

Snape narrowed his eyes and squared off with him, “I will find out what is going on between you lot.” At the sight of Sirius rolling his eyes, he grabbed his wrist, “Mark my words, Black. I will and I will ensure that you are knocked off the pedestal the rest of the school seems to mistakenly place you on.”

Laughing, Sirius threw Snape’s wand across the classroom, “You would need to be able to comprehend some sort of humanity, which you lack entirely, you greasy fucking twat.”

“I’ve seen you four, wandering. I’ve seen you sneaking around the grounds late at night!”

“Oh, look at you! Big bad Snivellus using that abnormally large nose to sniff something out!”

“I will find out. I know there’s something up with Lupin each month and I have my suspicions.”

“That would involve you not getting pummeled by a very angry tree. Now piss off or else I am going to hex you into next week.”

He cocked his head, “The Whomping Willow.”

“That stupid tree won’t do nearly as much damage as you deserve.” He spat, shoved Snape, and stormed off.

By the time he got up to the portrait hole, Remus must had already gone down and neither James nor Peter were anywhere in the common room or dormitory.  _ Wait _ \- it was already nine o’clock? Panicking, Sirius took off into the corridor, behind a portrait, and down a few flights of stairs. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Stupid Snape and his vendetta.

By the time he hit the grounds, Sirius was running on four paws, darting for the whomping willow, hoping he wasn’t too late. Remus should have already transformed by now. Things didn’t go as well without all three of them there. As he came up on it, there was a lot of screaming and he skidded to a halt in the dirt. There were figures up ahead that were yelling and hollering. And then the tell tale howl. 

Padfoot tried to run as fast as he could. People should not be near the bloody tree. Remus was transformed and if gone badly, he could be coming down the tunnel and out of the base of the tree. He tried barking up a storm, growling and making as much noise as possible. One of the figures was James, panting and out of breath. The other was… Snape. Growling louder, Padfoot got there just in time to stand in front of the hole into the tree, snarling and snapping his teeth at Severus Snape, who looked utterly terrified.

He was threatening to tell Dumbledore, saying they’d all be expelled. And that’s when the shoe dropped. Severus Snape had come straight here, to the whomping willow. He must have tried to get in through the hole. How did he manage that? Snape’s great big nose was bleeding and he was limping, threatening James within an inch of his life. 

And that’s when he heard the scratching from the tunnel. James could handle himself. He needed to control Moony. Padfoot turned and darted through the hole and within a few feet came nose to nose with a very large, agitated werewolf. He barked and growled, nipping at Remus to back up and go the other way in the tunnel. Instead the wolf swiped at him with large, clawed paws.

Using his head, he pushed Moony backwards, yipping and pulling at him until he back back into the shack. But the wolf was worse than he’d seen him in a long time. So Padfoot danced in circles to keep his attention, running around him and biting his heels and then bounding from side to side so he’d chase him. The wolf got a few very good blows in, slamming the shaggy black dog through the bannister and then denting a wall with him. But he just kept getting back up. 

He shook his head, and spat blood, limping on one of his back hind legs. He chased the werewolf into the room at the right of the stairs and he continued to snap at him, sometimes attempting it playfully and sometimes aggressive. But Moony wasn’t calming down. The premise of a human had him too wound up. He leapt onto his back, biting him and whining as the wolf picked him up, held him high over his head, and then threw out of the room. He lost his footing, stumbled on the landing, and was pretty sure he hit every stair on the way down.

Padfoot managed to crawl his way into the opening of the tunnel, pain in most parts of his body and a metallic taste in his mouth. He fell sideways and lay on his side, head resting against the first step into the shrieking shack.

He awoke to screaming and he realized he was back in his normal form. Sirius could only properly open one of his eyes and felt sore and swollen from every bit of himself. “Remus?” He could hear Remus, worse than he’d ever heard him. Sirius crawled to the bottom step and pulled himself to his feet on what was left of the railing. Every step was agony and he was sure that his ribs were broken again - quite possibly his wand arm as well.

Staggering and limping heavily, Sirius used the walls and anything else he could to help him get to Remus. “I’m coming, Moony. I swear.” His voice was hoarse, strained. And when he got to the doorway, he was nearly sick. Remus was laying on the couch looking worse off than even Sirius. “Fuck.”

He cried out in pain again, “Sirius, please!”

Finally reaching him, he collapsed in front of the couch, “Oh fuck, Remus, stay still.” There were three very thick scratches across his face, coupled with many more across his body. “Stay still, I’ll heal these!” He pulled out his wand, nearly passing out in pain from holding it out, and he mumbled the normal spells he used, closing up many of the wounds while Remus shook, trying as hard as he could to muffle his screams with the back of his hand. When he got to the ones on his face, he was at least able to close them up.

_ He _ had done this to him. Sirius had caused this. “Remus, I’m so sorry.” If he hadn’t made the comment about the whomping willow to Snape, then he never would’ve come down and James would’ve been able to help control the werewolf as Prongs, albeit difficult, it would’ve been okay. 

When he got the bleeding to stop and all of the marks were at least closed, Remus turned to him and his jaw dropped. “Oh god, Sirius… Did I do this? Oh god.” As usual, Remus was more concerned about everyone around him more than himself. Merlin, did he look that bad?

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. You didn’t do all of this, no.” Snape had busted his lip and nose. “It’s my fault, Moony, fuck. I’m so sorry.” He grabbed his hand with the hand he could actually move. “Madam Pomfrey should be here any minute. Just stay still.”

“How bad is it?” Remus begged him. “How bad did I do it this time?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.” Sirius leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“Mr. Black, I’m going to have to ask that you come with me.” A very unmistakable voice called from behind him. Sirius turned to look behind him to find Albus Dumbledore, with a face that said it all, standing with Madam Pomfrey. The school healer hurried over to Remus, fussing over him and nearly pushing Sirius out of the way muttering how serious the injuries were.

Sirius swallowed. “Professor Dumbledore, I should stay with Remus. He’s hurt badly.” Fuck, they were in a load of trouble. Now Dumbledore and Pomfrey knew that he knew.

“I assure you that he’s in capable hands. You need to come with me.” Dumbledore beckoned him, heading for the stairs.

Remus tried to sit up and was scolded. “Sirius?! What’s going on? What’s happened?”

Honestly, Sirius was biting his lip to hold back tears. “Remus, I’m sorry…” And he hobbled after the headmaster slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did warn that you may hate me after this one. 
> 
> Again, I took a bit of creative liberty with this and set The Prank in sixth year, rather than fifth. Apologies if that offends anyone, but I only set out to write sixth/seventh and still wanted to do this as well. I also didn't take 'the prank' quite as literally as most people tend to write it. Sirius wouldn't do that to Remus, so I didn't write it as intentional.
> 
> AS ALWAYS, feel free to find me on tumblr: jprongsx  
> And comments are golden, reviews are phenomenal, kudos make me smile, ect. Maybe if I get asked nicely I post James' chapter early. ;)


	10. Two Howlers and the Worst Night Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James deals with the aftermath of 'The Prank' and tries to be there for everyone in turn.

Last night had to be one of the worst nights of James Potter’s life. He hadn’t slept, hadn’t even changed his clothes. Two hours ago, he’d told Peter to just go to bed as he wasn’t any use anyhow. But James wasn’t leaving Remus’ side. He held onto his hand as he slept off all of the different potions Madam Pomfrey had made him gulp down. James felt sick watching him like this, worse than he’d ever seen him.

He could clearly picture it anytime he closed his eyes. Remus had begun to change and Prongs and Wormtail were waiting patiently outside the room for him. He never liked anyone to watch him transform and James had always understood that. But then he heard unfamiliar footsteps coming from the tunnel and sent Wormtail to investigate. The rat had scampered back and quickly turned into Peter.

“It’s Snape!”

He transformed back into James and went for the tunnel, but it had been too late. Severus Snape was stepping into the shrieking shack with a wicked grin. After a bit of pleading, he couldn’t mask the screams and growls from upstairs.

“Snape, I am begging you, you need to go. This isn’t safe!”

But he refused and tried to push past James, who hit him with a trip jinx right in time. Crashing through the already broken door was a 6’8” werewolf looking extremely angry. Both of them stumbled backwards, James yanking Snape by the back of his robes.

“What in Merlin’s bloody-”

“RUN.” James screamed as the wolf charged at them. He shoved Snape into the tunnel and pointed his wand at the werewolf, managing to knock him off his hinds and get a head start to run. “GO, SNAPE. FASTER.”

As they got out of the shrieking shack, James swung a punch towards Snape. Furious, he just hoped Peter was either hiding or that he’d gotten out.

“You’re hiding a bloody WEREWOLF.”

“Well, aren’t you perceptive! What in the hell were you doing coming down there?” And that’s when Padfoot had run past him and right down into the tunnel. _Oh, thank the heavens._

“You best _mate_ told me where I could find what you lot were up to!” Snape held his mouth where James had split his lip. “You’re harboring a monster!”

“He’s not a bloody monster, you slimy git.”

And the penny dropped. Snape’s beady eyes were wide. He sneered, “Lupin! It’s Lupin, isn’t it?! He always missing classes and it’s always around… the full moon.” Snape whipped around to look at the moon, which was in fact very full.

After choice words back and forth, Snape claimed he was going to tell the entire school, but he was going to Dumbledore first.

 

“J-James?” Remus had opened his eyes again. “What’s going on?” He looked around and James winced at the side of the three lines across his face, one running from just under his left eye and over his nose, and two other, shorter lines that were on either side of it.

Forcing a smile, he leaned over him, rubbing his arm, “Hey, stay still. It’s alright. You’re doing great.”

“Where’s Sirius?”

“I- I don’t know.”

And just as he said that, the headmaster entered the hospital wing, Sirius in tow with his head hung in shame and hobbled tenderly on his right leg. “Fuck, Sirius!” He stood, not letting go of Remus. But Sirius sat on a bed on the other side of the room at the instruction of Dumbledore, who after getting Madam Pomfrey for him, walked over to James and Remus.

Remus strained, trying to sit up, but James turned back and held him down, “Remus, stay still. You’re still healing!”

Dumbledore stood at his bedside, “Mr. Lupin, I’m glad to see you’re looking much better than when I saw you this morning. You gave Poppy and I quite a scare.” He touched his knee gingerly. “I see she’s worked her magic.”

Remus turned red, looking down at himself. He didn’t know how bad it actually was yet and James wasn’t looking forward to his reaction once he did. “Sirius healed up the worst ones this morning as much as he could. He stopped the bleeding. Why isn’t he coming over here?” Remus tried to find Sirius again, but Madam Pomfrey had drawn the curtain around him.

“I’m afraid Mr. Black is only here to get his broken bones mended and then he will be returning to my office to finish our discussion.”

“Discussion about what, Professor?” James asked, trying to keep his wits about him.

“It seems that, as a joke, he told another student that you four had a secret revolved around the whomping willow.”  
“He wouldn’t!” Remus barked, insulted that someone could even presume that, but that’s exactly what Snape had said as well. “Sirius wouldn’t tell anyone about me.”

Dumbledore sighed, “I’m sorry to say that it’s true. And Mr. Black is taking full responsibility. We will be deciding his future here at the school momentarily with Professor McGonagall.” And then he turned to James, “And I ask that you please come up to my office in about half an hour? I would like to take your statement as you quite possibly saved more than one life last night.” And then he was gone.

“JAMES. What is going on?” Remus was getting very angry now.

Biting his lip, James turned back to Remus and told him everything he knew. By the end of it, the sickly looking boy lay still and silent, looking defeated, head on the pillow. Plus, Madam Pomfrey hadn’t allowed Sirius to see Remus before pushing him back out of the hospital wing. This was all just too surreal.

 

The Headmaster’s office was very grand and circular. James stared at the many gadgets and objects that filled up the room. His personal favorite wasn’t an object, though. The headmaster’s phoenix was absolutely brilliant to look at and always enjoyed a good scratch - they’d become acquainted over the years and the multitude of times that James had sat in here to be scolded for one thing or another.

Sirius was sat in a chair against the wall with his head in his hand. James had tried talking to him, but Sirius was too distraught to even look up. He could see that there was still blood on his best mate’s hands and on his sweater and it made James nervous. He also had one arm held up in a sling.

“Padfoot, mate.” James whispered. “Are you alright?”

Sirius simply shook his head, sniffing back tears. He didn’t even acknowledge when Professor McGonagall walked into the room and took a seat in between the two of them. “Mr. Black, sit up straight. This will go much more in your favor if you at least look dignified.”

James sucked in a hard breath when SIrius finally looked up. He had a swollen black eye, the bridge of his nose was purple, and the bottom left corner of his mouth was all different shades between blue and black. He could still see the blood on his face and caked into his hair. It would’ve had to be there all day as it was nearly dinner now. Sirius’ hands trembled, and James had never seen him this way.

“Stop gawking at him like a sideshow, Potter.” McGonagall snapped at him.

“Sorry.” He looked away and then swallowed. “What am I doing here, Professor? I gave my side of things this morning.”

“You are going to act as a character witness for your friend, James.” Dumbledore sat down across from him, glancing at Sirius. “After speaking with everyone and keeping Mr. Black up here with me throughout the day, we have decided that we will hear your side of things again.”

He told them everything, minus being animagi. He told them how Sirius wouldn’t have intentionally sent Snape into danger more so because he was so protective of Remus. That he went down with him early and sat with him until the last minute, that he stayed in the mornings after and tended to his wounds, making sure he didn’t wake up alone and in pain. He stayed in his bed at night after the transformation just in case he had nightmares or needed anything. He gave testament to the kind of friend Sirius Black was.

“And all of us have been on edge after Snape cursed Remus in the way that he did. Sirius especially.”

“There is grounds to expel him, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall replied, looking pained.

“I’m aware, but there were also grounds to expel Severus Snape and you didn’t.”

Dumbledore looked over to Sirius, “Mr. Black, may I ask that you wait outside for just a moment?” Sirius nodded and left the room. “Mr. Potter, Sirius could have gotten Severus Snape killed. And your friend, Mr. Lupin, would’ve had to live with that. He could have turned him. The _only_ reason I am even considering not having him pack his trunk tonight for putting many students in danger is because of the events preceding tonight.”

And then James was informed of how Snape had stunned Sirius, hexing him, and threatening him. For once Sirius hadn’t even been bothering him.

“Professor, please. I’ll put my reputation down on the line. I’ll be responsible for him. I swear. Please don’t expel him.”

And that’s when they struck a deal. James would be held accountable for anything Sirius did for the remainder of the year and their final year as well. And if Sirius betrayed the second chance he was being given, he would be expelled immediately. McGonagall had laughed, but James swore, promised, pleaded, telling them of all the amazing things Sirius had done.

“That is all, Mr. Potter. Thank you.”

 

When he returned to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey said she had sent Remus back to the dormitories to finish resting up. So James hurried there, walking into the common room to see Remus sobbing into Peter’s chest. Peter gave him the look of shock and sympathy, but didn’t dare speak. James joined them and put an arm around Remus.

“Is he expelled then?” Remus said through gritted teeth.

“No, luckily.” James leaned his head on the back of Remus’ shoulder. “He should be back soon.”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“Fair enough.”

“Tell him not to speak to me.”

“Mate, that’s something you need to say to him.”

“Fine. I’ll tell him to go to hell.”

It was about an hour later that Sirius finally made it into the dormitory, still looking just as awful. James was sat in his own bed, but he was the only one left with the curtains open. He jumped up as soon as he walked in, and crossed the room to meet him and cut him off before he disturbed Remus.

“Sirius, no.” James stopped him, pushing the hair from his face. “Are you alright?” When he nodded in return, James felt a surge of anger. This wasn’t just some over the top prank. It wasn’t dungbombs and fireworks. It was potentially turning their best friend into a murderer. The thought overwhelmed him and before Sirius could speak, James turned and punched him square in the jaw, as hard as he could ever remember hitting someone.

For a while, they sat side by side, not saying a word. Sirius had fallen back, but not retaliated, not saying anything. When his best mate didn’t talk, it was something. He felt a bit bad for hitting him, but blimey, he definitely deserved it.

Finally, James broke the silence. “You sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine, James. I just need a shower and it’ll be fine.” Liar. He took a deep breath and patted him on the arm. “Thanks for having my back. Is Remus in his bed?”

“He said he doesn’t want to see you, mate.”

“Brilliant.” James couldn’t remember ever seeing Sirius this depressed and defeated, not even when he’d run away from home. He walked straight to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. As he stepped into the shower, he could hear him crying. James wanted to unlock the door, to walk in there and shake him. It wasn’t entirely Sirius’ fault, but then it was and he wanted to both throttle him and just hug him. But instead he just sat on his bed and listen as Sirius sobbed in the shower and he was pretty sure he could hear Remus sniffing away tears as well.

When Sirius finally came out of the shower, he tried to slip into Remus’ bed. James watched, unable to really do much else as Sirius was shoved back out of the bed and hit the floor with a loud thump. He sat there for a long time before James rolled two cigarettes, walked over to him, pulling him up and handing him one.

They set against the window sill with the window cracked open smoking four or five in a row. James was tempted to get out the _other_ stuff he had to smoke, but he had been keeping that from everyone bar Remus as it was.

Finally, Sirius spoke., “Dumbledore has owled my parents as well as yours. He said they’re essentially my guardians at the moment and deserve to know. I’m sorry, mate. They won’t get details, just that I put other students in grave danger.”

James nodded, exhaling through his nose, “Be prepared for two howlers then. Mum isn’t past sending one to you. They consider you a second son.”

Sirius swallowed and James watched as more tears trickled down his cheek. “I really fucked up this time.”

It was all James could do to put his arms around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm feeling generous and you're all so wonderful, here's chapter ten a bit early! 
> 
> I think you're all going to really enjoy the next chapter. One, it's Remus' perspective. Two, James is absolutely hysterical. Three, everyone keeps asking about the fallout between Remus and Sirius. 
> 
> If anyone might be interesting in betaing/kicking me up the arse to push through the harder chapters to write, send me a message on tumblr: jprongsx. I have over double written than what it actually posted, so I'm not behind, I swear. It would just be nice to be able to toss around ideas and get a bit of feedback as I go along. :P


	11. Trouser Wands and the Curse of the Devil's Papercuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus is dealing with not only feeling like a monster, but adapting to the new marks across his face. These are much harder to hide and seem to follow him everywhere. At the moment, James is his only saving grace - albeit mostly comic relief masked as attempts to help.

The past two weeks of Remus Lupin’s life had been filled with more ‘are you alright’s and apologies than he’d ever had in his life. It was one of those times where he just wanted to sit up in his bed, shut the curtains, and pretend everyone else didn’t exist. No, of course he wasn’t fucking alright. He was far, far from alright. First he gets the curse of the devil’s papercuts and then his best mate thinks it a laugh to mention about the whomping willow - to said idiot that cursed him. He was so past alright, actually, that he was contemplating going home. He actually might.

With a deep breath, he pushed his way into the bathroom and locked it behind him. Not that he’d much liked or enjoyed his reflection before, but now he was afraid of it. Madam Pomfrey said only some of them would scar, not all. As if he needed even more scars to add to his already alarming collection. Gathering up the courage, Remus gripped the edge of the vanity and stared back at himself. Not necessarily disfigured, but he would never be looked at as normal again. He was supposed to return to classes today, but he honestly wasn’t sure if he could manage it.

His shower was steaming hot, but painful. Remus had both hands on the cold tile to keep himself on his feet as the water ran over his scars, both old and new. He looked like a monster and he felt like one too. There was one new mark on his forearm that he knew would fade and go away because he hadn’t caused it. Turning his left arm, he saw the very canine bite marks.  _ Padfoot _ . It was a reminder, he told himself, that friends could be reckless. Remus Lupin stared at the new mark and found himself suddenly sobbing, uncontrollably and for a variety of reasons. He’d let his guard down too much maybe, or possibly he was1 just scared - he didn’t care. Things would never be the way they were. 

Thinking ahead, he had brought his clothing in with him. Once he was dressed and very little of him stuck out at all, he put on his reading glasses, knowing they hid much of the scaring. If he let them sit towards the tip of his nose, it hid a lot of the larger mark across his nose. His hair was a mess in itself, but it didn’t look nearly as much like he’d fought with a strimmer as James’ did, so that’s the part that counted. He fumbled with it for a minute, trying to at least give it an ounce of style, before the banging started on the door.

“I swear to that tight little arse of yours, if you don’t get out of that bathroom so I can go for a poo before Potions, I  _ will _ kill you.” James whined, slamming his fists on the door impatiently.

At some point, he’d need to write James a thank you card or something. Remus wasn’t sure how in the hell he could’ve gotten through everything since the full moon without him. Thwarting anyone’s questions, chasing off McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, and even though he wasn’t as tender as Sirius with his wound cream, James was honestly trying. Remus had even taken to calling him ‘Mum’ every now and then, a sideways insult that was usually reserved for himself. And forget going to breakfast the previous morning, because James had snapped at anyone who even tried to talk to Remus - which he found more hilarious than anything. When Sirius did it, he was dignified with dog-like loyalty. James was just like a madman startling people for even just walking too closely..

As he opened the door, James nearly knocked him over to get to the toilet, ordering him out of the bathroom. He laughed, shook his head, and closed the door behind him as he walked towards his own bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sirius buttoning up his shirt, trying to catch a look from him. He ignored it, letting his expression fall to that of a tea spoon - blank and reflective. Honestly if he thought Sirius Black could have a remotely mature conversation about what had happened, then he would sit down with him. Instead, anytime he let him get a word in all Sirius did was whine, moan, and beg. Remus didn’t have time for his nonsense. There was too much to catch up on and he pitied himself enough without pitying Sirius too.

Slughorn was all too delighted to see him in class, but as soon as he opened his mouth to ask Remus a question during his lecture, James blurted out a slew of awkward questions, making Slughorn apprehensive to keep any focus on that side of the room.

“Thanks, Prongs,” Remus whispered, smiling and trying to contain his laughter. 

“No worries, mate. Think I went a bit overboard about asking what would happen if you put the deflating draught on your unwanted trouser-wand, though.” James bit his lip, trying to keep quiet, but it didn’t work and they both ended up doubling over in front of their cauldrons, snorting and attempting to muffle their laughter with the sleeves of their robes.

Peter would be here cackling with them, but as he couldn’t stop fixating on Remus’ face, James had banished him to sit and keep Sirius from moping too much, mumbling under his breath that Sirius’ ego could use a deflating potion. This had Remus rolling in a fit of laughter yet again, something his life had been seriously lacking as of recently. 

The rest of Potions went pretty normal, with the exception of Lily actually looking flustered and screwing up her potion - something that almost never happened. And afterward, as Peter scrambled to catch up to Remus and James in the corridor. He wasn’t sure if Sirius had made it awkward for Peter, or if he was just so wrapped up in James that he didn’t want to feel like he was missing out. Personally, Remus didn’t really care as Peter was a good laugh and actually took legible notes when he needed to. Plus, he was one of the very few people he never had an issue with staring at his scars, only because he was well aware of what caused them.

“Alright, lads, have fun doing nothing with this period. I’m off to Arithmancy.” Remus frowned and watched them walk out through the Transfiguration courtyard. He was jealous as he wanted to be able to skive off the rest of the day, but he hadn’t been to any classes in two weeks and he needed to feel even slightly caught up. James and Sirius might be able to just fuck off during class and pass easily by their own sheer wit and talent, but Remus had to work for it. Missing so muchtook a toll on him, and a lot of the time when he was there, he felt ill as it stood.

Just before he reached the corridor he needed, he felt a tug on his arm. Before he turned around, he knew exactly who it was. Remus shrugged him off and kept walking, trying not to even speak to him or glance at him. He didn’t want to speak to Sirius. It wasn’t that he couldn’t forgive him, that he was angry - though he was - or that he held him  _ entirely _ responsible, but Sirius could’ve made him a murderer had it not been for James. A part of him did feel for him as Snape had really done a number on him beforehand, but that situation was exactly the thing he had nightmares about. He was terrified that he would eventually one day hurt someone.

“Remus,  _ please _ !” He could hear the pain in Sirius’ voice. The angst and the guilt. And part of him wanted to turn and wrap his arms around him, just forget the whole thing happened, but he couldn’t. This wasn’t just another prank where someone had nearly gotten hurt and they were all stuck in detention. This was life and death. And Remus would’ve been responsible. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself. So if out of spite towards Snape he’d said those things, how was Remus supposed to trust him? “Please, just look at me!” This time he could hear the tears in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, Remus turned towards him. Sirius was a wreck. His hair was pulled back into a messy bun at the back of his neck, which Remus hated admitting that he liked, his eyes and nose were red, and he looked nearly as tired as himself. “ _ What _ , Sirius?”

He caught up to him and tried to take his hand, but when Remus pulled away, Sirius just hung his head in defeat. “Scream at me, hit me, anything… But pretending I don’t exist?” He swallowed, obviously straining for the right words and not spitting out whatever came to mind first. “I don’t know how much more I can apologize or beg. I just want things to go back to the way -”

“They never will, Sirius. So forget about it. I could’ve killed him.” Remus spat.

“I know, I know. I wasn’t thinking.”

“That’s the point! You don’t think! You never think about the consequences! We both could’ve been sent to Azkaban and all over a stupid git who isn’t even worth the time and energy to bother with!” Remus stepped back. “I trusted you with  _ everything _ I am and you took advantage of that. You threw it back in my face.”

At the mention of his face, he could feel Sirius following the fresh lines on his nose, which made Remus fumble with his glasses again, very uncomfortable. “I’ll do anything, Remus.”

“That’s not the point. I know you’d do anything for me - actually, that is the point. You went after Snape  _ because _ of me.”

“He nearly killed you!”

“Well, this isn’t bloody Babalon! The law isn’t an eye for an eye, you daft twat! How am I supposed to trust you? I have to live with whatever happens while I transform.” Remus pulled off the glasses and closed the distance between the two of them. “I have to live with being a monster my whole life, I don’t want to feel that I’ve acted as one as well. So I’d appreciate it if you would give me the fucking space I need and I’ll decide whether or not I can let you in again.”

Sirius’ breathing stopped at seeing the full extent of the scratches. He lifted a hand towards his face, but Remus leaned back and slapped his arm away. “FUck, Remus… I-”

“You don’t get to touch me like that anymore.”

“What?” 

The look of pain and horror on his face infuriated Remus and he rolled his eyes, shoving his glasses back on. “Just leave me the hell alone and go back to shagging the first thing that walks by. I have to get to class. We’re done here.” Remus turned and stormed off, not bothering to look and see Sirius’ reaction. Right now, he didn’t care.

As he sat down in Arithmancy, he threw his books onto the desk beside Lily Evans and dug his nails into his knees as he sat down. His entire body was a whirlwind of emotions and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Remus was so angry with Sirius, but all his body wanted to do was grab him and start kissing him like he had before the full moon. And the wolfish side of him definitely wanted something more than pretending he didn’t exist at breakfast and shutting him out in the dormitory. His heart wanted Sirius, his wolf wanted to rip him apart, and Remus was stuck in the middle being so angry and so tired of doing this back and forth game.

But it needed to be this way now. He couldn’t trust Sirius with the full moon anymore. Not after what happened. It was bad enough he was getting the most peculiar looks from Severus Snape - somewhere between disgust and intrigue. It made him sick. His knuckles were white, still clinging to the edge of the desk as if he was trying to crush it.

“You alright, Remus?” The redhead beside him asked, obviously very concerned.

He cleared his throat, and adjusted his glasses to cover as much of his nose as possible. “Yeah, doing fantastic. How about yourself, Lily?”

It didn’t look like she believed him and he was convinced she didn’t when she tenderly put her hand over his, eyes scanning Remus for any answers, but to her disappointment, he faked a smile. Lily fumbled with her books and set everything out, handing him a stack of papers. “That’s everything you’ve missed in the last two weeks. I copied my notes for you so that you could just focus on what’s going on currently.”

“Thanks, Lily.” He took the papers and slid them into the front of his book and then took out his quill, ready to make a feeble attempt to catch up. 

She nodded and pulled a bag of chocolates out of her satchel, offering some to him. What, did he look like some malnourished child? Okay, so actually, he did. Even with that, who was Remus to turn down chocolate? “You do realize you can talk to me, right?” It was a ploy! She was bribing him with candy. 

Cocking an eyebrow, Remus laughed through a mouthful of chocolate buttons. After he managed to swallow, he shook his head. “Lily Evans, are you trying to soften me up with sweets so that I’ll tell you all my deepest secrets?”

At that, she chuckled and shoved him lightly. “I mean it!” When she rolled her eyes, he always thought that she was perfecting her McGonagall look. “I know you’ve had a rough couple weeks, you haven’t spoken to Sirius at all, and you look like there’s a lot you need to get off your chest. I just want you to know that I’m here. That’s all.” She grabbed a handful of chocolate as well just as class started.

“It’s nothing. Just forget about it.”

“Remus, you look like hell.”

“I’ve got -”

“If you try to pass off the ‘badly behaved rabbit’ excuse one more time, I swear I’ll knock you off that stool.”

“Class is starting, Lily. I really need to pay attention.”

Remus tried to take notes, but he couldn’t concentrate. And when they were dismissed, he didn’t even speak as he shoved his books into a bag and made his way towards the dormitory before Lily had even shut her book. He needed to put more cream on the marks and take something for the pain before dinner. Luckily the common room was bustling when he walked through the portrait hole, so no one really noticed as he slipped upstairs. He chucked his bag unceremoniously onto his bed and slipped out of his robes. Now for the fun part. Since the other boys were in the common room, he just unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it. 

In front of the bathroom mirror, he turned, lifting his arms in different ways to see all the marks and scars. They ranged from angry and red to white and simply raised. He couldn’t help but think of how ugly he must look. His skin was just shredded to bits in most places. The healing cream was cold and he hissed as he put it onto his skin, it’s white-blue color absorbing and making each scratch shrivel with a chill. And as he rubbed it into his side, he hadn’t even realized that he had an audience. 

He wasn’t sure how long Sirius had been stood in the threshold of the bathroom, watching him, but as soon as he caught his stare, he crossed his arms awkwardly to cover as much of himself as he could. Remus hoped that Sirius would get the hint after he didn’t speak to him, and just continued on, but then he was stepping towards him. “Just leave me alone, Sirius. I don’t want to speak to you.”

The other boy shook his head, and picked up the jar. “Then don’t.” He scooped some out with his fingers and Remus jumped back as he went to rub it on him.

“Go away. I can do this on my own. I don’t need your help, nor do I want it.” 

Sirius stomped and sighed, “You won’t be able to get it like I can.” His dark eyes glared at Remus. “Stop being such a prat and come here.” Finally Remus obliged and let him approach him. “Lift your arm so I can get your side properly.” And then the mixed sensation of the cold cream and Sirius’ warm hands could’ve sent Remus into a fit of rage, lust, and pain at the same time. One person should not be allowed to have this much control over someone.

Gingerly massaging it into the new marks, Remus let his eyes close and his head tilt back slightly. Then he moved to the other side and finally his chest, where the worst one was. He couldn’t help but gasp as Sirius ran his fingertips over it as gently as possible. His eyes opened quickly in response to see the other boy standing merely inches from him, focused on the task and taking careful attention into every part of Remus. It was taking a lot to keep reminding himself of his anger and not allow the sudden twitch in his trousers win over. 

For years Sirius had done this for him, massaging his sore muscles and helping him apply whatever Madam Pomfrey had concocted to help him heal easier. As he looked at him, Remus noticed the bruising still around Sirius’ left eye, the split in his bottom lip, just beneath his shirt collar, he could see where one of the bruises was peeking out. Remus put a hand on his, stopping him. “Fuck… I did this.” He closed the gap between them, and undid the top button of Sirius’ shirt to pull it away from the skin and see the horrible looking mark that extended through his ribcage.. 

Remus wanted to see the extent of the damage, and Sirius didn’t stop him as he opened the rest of his shirt. He hovered one hand over the sight of his torso, guilt and horror rushing over him. His other hand went to cover his mouth and he felt more like a monster now seeing what he did to Sirius than what he’d done to himself. And Sirius hadn’t even said a word about any of it. Now, he knew about Sirius’ broken arm, but not all of this.

“How bad was it all?”

“Looks worse than it is.”

“Honestly. What did I do?”

Sirius shook his head and swatted away Remus’ hand to put the cream along his shoulder. “I’m fine.” He begged him with his eyes and Sirius caved. “Broken arm. Broken ribs. Fractured skull. Those were the worst bits. It’s fine, Remus. Madam Pomfrey fixed it all quite quickly. She just couldn’t keep it from looking awful.”

Tears welled in Remus’ eyes, and he let Sirius manhandle him, turning him and making sure he had all of the new marks. When he got down to his forearm, he could see the guilt in Sirius’ eyes as he ran his thumb over the teeth imprints. The marks  _ he _ made. It was honestly the first time Padfoot had left a mark. “This was me, wasn’t it?”

Nodding, he choked back the tears that wanted to escape. “Yeah, they’ll go away. They’re truly nothing. I did much worse.”

“Because I was an idiot.”

Well, he couldn’t deny that. Remus didn’t say anything, instead just tugging his arm away. 

“I’m sor-”

“Stop.” He covered his own face with his hands, rubbing his glasses across his cheeks and nose as if to work out some of the tension. “I’m sick of apologies. I don’t want to hear them anymore.” Remus pulled the glasses off to clean them, but Sirius stopped him, cupping his cheek and running the edge of his thumb across the newly forming scars across his face.

Based on the sudden, sharp intake of breath, Sirius hadn’t realized how bad his face was mauled to shit now. Remus tried to shrug him off again and pull away to put his glasses back on, but Sirius stopped him. Finally, he let his eyes meet the big, pleading grey puppy eyes and he felt his warm breath. The next thing he knew, Sirius had tilted his head and pressed his mouth to his. 

He froze. His mind wanted him to run, but his body was screaming otherwise and Remus gave in. His bottom lip was just too much to deny. When Sirius’ callused hand slid from his cheek to just behind his ear, he found himself involuntarily putting one hand to his chest and the other just underneath his open collar. 

The tension and the terror were both overwhelming and as their lips crashed into one another, Remus momentarily forgot about the last few weeks. It was just him and Sirius in the bathroom giving into feeling and instinct. Somehow his hands were in the long dark brown hair, and his own sandy-colored locks had been roughed up along with his bottom lip. They had breathed a few one word responses, panting in between kisses. His tongue was an elusive prize that he was trying to court and grasp onto. And then they were against the wall, Sirius dropping the rest of his shirt and Remus letting his hands find all of the curves and crevices of those broad shoulders.

Everything about this felt so right, he tried to chase his lips when he pulled away for merely a second. And Remus had even managed a small smile - at least until Sirius’ eyes dropped to the line across his nose. It broke his concentration and then he pushed him away.

“I can’t -” Panic. His hands were shaking and he grabbed the glasses, pushing them back onto his face to hide behind. “I can’t do this. Not with you. Not anymore.” And Remus bent down to grab his shirt, pulling it on and buttoning it up as fast as his sore arms would let him. The tightness in his trousers subsided a bit as he struggled not to cry or scream or both.

“Moony!” Sirius tried to come after him. “Remus!” But he dismissed him, shoving his wand into his back pocket and taking off for the door.

“Leave me the hell alone.”

Sirius followed him all the way to the stairs, and then begged him once more, “Remus, please!” It had alerted the entire common room to his presence as he stormed off through the crowd and back through the portrait hole. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t trust like that anymore. it wasn’t safe. It wasn’t right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my absolute favorite chapters. Every author has that one that they love to reread and this is mine, so I really hope you've enjoyed it. Oh, yeah, and James shows off more of how much he's an absolute idiot. Lovable idiot. I adore him.
> 
> The next chapter is the last chapter of sixth year. I know everyone has been holding out for some good Jily, so this one will excite you. It's got some fantastic Lily/Marlene/Remus friendship dynamic as well. 
> 
> Thank you all AGAIN for the comments, kudos, and everything. You're all phenomenal and you make my day whenever I get a notification. Please, find me on tumblr: jprongsx. I love hearing what you think and if you want to read way ahead, I am looking for a beta to kick me up the arse. xxxxxxx


	12. Exploding Snap Poker Tag and the Great Chocolate Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and Marlene have an evening filled with chocolate, booze, and trying to get Remus to talk about his issues while sending sixth year out in style.

The last few weeks of term had flown by for Lily. It was essay after essay after girl’s night with Marlene and then hangover days. Next thing she knew, it was a few days before the end of term and all she had left to do was one more Transfiguration essay and to lay in the grass by the lake, soaking up the sun. All of her freckles had come out in the last two weeks where the weather had seemed to behave itself. Marlene was seeing a seventh year and complaining because she knew it had to end and Lily was just imagining what a whole summer of this was going to be.

Sure, she needed to go back to her childhood home and sort the affairs with Petunia now that they were both coming to terms with it. They’d agreed to sell the house and make an attempt to be civil as it’s what their parents would have wanted. So as she lay there in a paisley blue sun dress, brown boots, and her long red hair curling around her like a fiery crown, they laughed, finished off the last of the Honeyduke’s and made plans for their last summer of freedom. Effectively, Lily would be staying with the McKinnons for most of the summer and the Potters had insisted she would have a home there any time she needed it.

And to make matters a lot easier, James was talking to her again like normal all of a sudden. He’d even given her a hug at breakfast, saying he just needed his daily dose of ginger before Charms. It had made her smile. He promised he’d take her to a beach close to his home and show her all sorts of wizarding summer life. She’d just have to deal with Sirius and be alright with being their third wheel. But she didn’t mind that so much.

The blonde beside her was still going on about girl problems and joking about how she still needed to have a few good nights with a couple guys before she’d decide which gender to settle down with. This made them both roll with laughter, mostly because with all of the rumors and strange disappearances, they might never get to settle down. It was a harrowing thought.

“What are we laughing about?” Remus Lupin flopped down in between them, putting his hands behind his head as he lay on his back. “Quite possibly, could it be that the cloud right above us looks like Slughorn as a rabbit?”

Marlene pointed, giggling like a fool. “Oh! I See it!” She leaned her head into Remus’ shoulder. “Are you coming to impose on girl time?”

“Impose? Marls, he is one of the bloody girls.” Lily shot him a look and smiled over at him. She loved it when he was like this, happy and at least seemingly carefree. Her very first friend at Hogwarts that hadn’t been Severus Snape normally brooded 23 hours a day. This must’ve been his one good hour.

“So, does that mean you’ll do my nails and feed me chocolate?” Remus stuck his tongue out at her and then sighed deeply, his glasses sliding back against his forehead. There is was again. _That scar_. It was new and it concerned Lily, but he’d refused to talk about it and asked her to kindly never mention it again - so she hadn’t.

“There’s no chocolate left!” Marlene lied.

“I don’t believe it, no.” He glanced around and then found the paper bag, grasping for it at the most awkward of angles.

“No you don't, you cheeky git!” Lily sat up and grabbed it before he could, clutching it close to her chest. He sat up after her, wrapping his arms around her like a bear and snatching at the paper bag. “No! I’m going to hold an intervention on you and bloody chocolate, Remus Lupin!”

He scoffed dramatically and gripped the bag, pulling it with one hand and tickling her side with the other. “Don’t make me take house points away for not sharing, Lily Evans!” They laughed and rolled and he tickled her until she screamed high pitched like a first year Hufflepuff. She let go of the bag and he managed to find their chocolate.

Marlene rolled her eyes at the both of them, savoring a pepper imp. “So, Remus, what are your summer plans?”

Mouthful of chocolate, he laughed. “I’m sure I’ll be drug on some great adventure with James at some point. Lily and I have tickets to see a show in the West End, and beyond that…” Lily noticed his attention diverted when a certain fellow Gryffindor boy walked by. She frowned at how much it looked like Remus wanted to go over to him. “...fuck all.”

Lily nudged him, putting on her best Mum face. “Have you even spoken to him?”

“Nope. And I don’t plan to,” Remus stated, matter of factly. He was failing at playing indifferent.

She slapped him in the back of the head. “And why in the bloody hell not? This has been the better part of two months.”

He shrugged, going off into his head and doing the brooding thing again. “I’m just not ready to deal with him or forgive him.”

“You still haven’t even told me what he did.”

“That’s something between me and him. Sorry, Lily.”

Marlene groaned to break up the silence, “C’mon, let’s go polish off that last bottle.” She grinned and tackled Lily to the ground.

Back in the common room, the three of them passed around Marlene’s bottle of firewhiskey. Remus was telling them some of the ridiculous things that occur in the boy’s dorm and she couldn’t help but laugh so hard that her eyes were watering. She’d seen first hand how bad that could be. In her peripheral vision she saw Peter walk through the portrait hole, followed closely by James and Sirius. She offered a smile to all three of them, waving them over. _Merlin, I must be daft._

“Alright, Evans?” James beamed with bloodshot eyes, throwing an arm around her casually. She picked up his hand with two fingers and gave him the hint as not to do that.

_Doing great. Coming to terms with losing my parents and Mary, falling for your sorry arse, and figuring myself out_ , she thought to herself with a smile. “Brilliant, Potter. And how are you on one of our final nights in the castle before we’re big, bad seventh years?”

His crooked smirk turned up and he let his glasses slip down to the tip of his nose. “Most excellent, thank you for asking.” And then he turned to Remus on the other side of her, “Oi, Moony-” She’d never understood that nickname, or any of their nicknames really. “-Are you done being a giant girl and ready to have the biggest game of exploding snap poker tag?”

Lily narrowed her eyes, turning to the arrogant, speckled twat beside her. “Exploding Snap Poker Tag?”

“It’s absolutely the most hysterical game to come to Hogwarts in years!” Peter winked at Marlene, who just shifted closer to Remus and mumbled something under her breath that made him nearly spit firewhiskey out of his nose.

“Is this anything like _wizard broom chicken_?” She glared. Something about that made all four boys, even Sirius who’d been silently staring holes into the back of Remus’ head this entire time, double over in laughter.

“Evans! Wizard broom chicken is in a whole other class of magnificent games. Plus, McGonagall said if she caught us doing it again, she’d hyde us.” James shuddered. “Peter may have crash landed into the entrance hall and knocked over a few suits of armor.”

The blonde boy nodded, sniggering. “It was amazing, but she was so angry. I had to scrub cauldrons for a week.”

As Lily turned towards Marlene and Remus, she noticed that Sirius had tried speaking to Remus and he’d shifted away uncomfortably. “Lily, do you mind if I go and grab that bottle of wine from your trunk?”

She didn’t have a bottle of wine in her trunk. “Sure, Remus. You know where it is.” Smiling halfheartedly, the entire group watched him walk right up into the girl’s dormitory.

“Damn it, Evans.” Sirius glared at her and then ran after him.

“This will end badly.” Marlene sounded too amused for her own good. She was right though. Seconds after he’d tried to chase after Remus, the staircase flattened and Sirius slid on his stomach right back into the common room.

“Padfoot, just leave it. He’ll come around eventually,” James shouted to him, but Sirius ignored him and sulked up to the boy’s dormitory.

“I’ll go after him,” Peter said, defeated.

“And I’ll go let Remus know that Sirius is gone and it’s safe to come back out.” Marlene winked at her and then darted upstairs, leaving her alone with James.

“Bloody hell, Evans. You can clear a room, can’t you?” James grinned down at her. She could tell he’d been smoking again, and not just his tobacco.

Taking out her wand, she batted her eyelashes at him, grabbing his tie, and then flicking her wand towards him. His eyes returned back to their normal state and he shook his head. “There, better.”

“Did you just…?” He shook his head, groaning with the sudden sobriety, and sat on the window ledge. “You always have to ruin the fun.”

“You don’t need that nonsense to have fun, James Potter.” Lily handed him the bottle of firewhiskey and kissed his cheek. “You just need some good friends and a good vibe.”

Taking a swig, James laughed. “Well, you’re not going to get so drunk that you try to attack me with a snog and then puke everywhere, are you?”

“I make no promises!”

“Cheeky  cow.”

She gasped and tried to contain her laughter, before slapping his shoulder. “Ruddy toss pot!”

“Oh, that stings! That’s a new one!” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the window sill. “If someone would’ve asked you a year ago whether you’d be sat here with me-”

“I’d have told them they were either confunded or had an awful sense of humor.” She poked his chest, sliding next to him. “You’ve just grown up a tiny bit, Potter.”

He rubbed what small amount of facial hair he’d been able to grow. “Yes, I’m well aware.”

“Oh, Merlin, save me. Potter is trying to grow face fuzz!” Lily leaned back onto his shoulder and closed her eyes as he rubbed his nose affectionately against her forehead. It did things to her and stirred emotions that she didn’t want to be stirred, no matter how innocent the gesture had been.

“Do you want me to come with you?” He asked.

Confused, she tilted her head to stare up at him, “Come where with me?”

“I’ll come with you to your parents’ house, so you’re not alone.” The notion was sweet, and she didn’t think he realized just how sweet it actually was.

Shaking her head, Lily smiled and lifted her hand up and backwards to pat his cheek. “Thank you, but I’ll be alright. Have to put on my big girl trousers at some point.”

He stood, and took a deep breath, stretching like he was trying to prove some sort of point that she didn’t get. “Well, the offer stands.”

Lily patted his chest. “I appreciate it.” Picking up the bottle of firewhiskey, she took another drink and looked back towards him once, “I think I’m going to join Marlene in our dormitory and make sure she hasn’t taken Remus hostage or something.”

“I somehow doubt that he’d mind.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Lily put a hand over his face. James didn’t have the slightest clue, did he?

Shaking her head, she grabbed his tie, pulling him down to her. “You’re just an oblivious one, aren’t you, Potter?” He looked absolutely bewildered and she grinned and planted a single kiss on him before winking and walking away.

“Hey!” James stood behind her, in shock. “Lily!”

Lucky for her, she was already on the stairs to the dormitory by the time he caught up. “I’ve been drinking. I’m sure you’d rather not risk me mucking up another pair of your boots, huh, _Prongs_?” At the mention of his nickname she noticed him bite his lip. “Night, James. I’ll send Remus back to you shortly, unharmed. Promise.”

There were definite butterflies. Lily didn’t turn around to see his next reaction, instead just climbing her way up the stairs to find Remus Lupin sat on her window sill smoking a cigarette with one foot bracing himself against the slanted roof.

“It’s one of the last nights we’ll get a chance to do this. I miss when the four- well, I miss when we’d hang out.” Marlene had to correct herself, and looked down.

“Tonight is for Mary!” Lily exclaimed, smiling before taking a large drink from the bottle.

Remus lifted his cigarette up. “Here, here! If she were here we’d be playing truth or dare and she would spend the entire night giggling and telling us how _lovely_ we are!”

In agreement, Marlene snatched the bottle. “To Mary telling me that I had a lovely smile and that my cynical demeanor was… _lovely_!”

“My red hair matched my _lovely_ personality!”

“The scar on my neck is _lovely_ and makes me mysterious!”

Exchanging glances, Marlene and Lily looked at each other before cracking up laughing and both saying, “They do!”

He quirked a brow, obviously very confused.

“You do realize that while people may like Black for his status and money and James for his popularity and talent, pretty much every girl in our year and give or take some would absolutely die to get caught in a broom cupboard with you, Remus?” Marlene told him, blatantly.

“Excuse me?”

Lily hopped up on the window sill with him. “You don’t try, you’re very reserved, but yet James and Sirius are always with you, so that speaks for itself. Plus, you’re just genuinely nice. Add that with your good looks and there you have it!”

“And the scar. It helps.” Marlene joined them, putting an arm around Remus and taking his cigarette. “But, you have a few more now if you’d take off those glasses.” She took them off his face and put them on her own. “Oh, do these make me look smart and brooding?!”

Remus’ face went red and he covered his nose with his hand. She pulled his hand away and looked at him, speaking directly into those soft amber eyes. “Remus Lupin, stop selling yourself short. You’re a gorgeous lad and anyone would be lucky to date you. I know Mary would’ve.”

Nodding, Marlene took a drag off the cigarette. “She still fancied you, mate.”

“Can I tell you guys something?” Remus looked sheepish and let his hair fall into his face, probably still trying to cover up these new scars. She really kind of hoped he would have just told her what was going on now.

“Alright then, Remus, let’s have it!” She grinned. Lily was sure Marlene was waiting on him to tell her that he had been in love with Mary or some other girl. Lily thought otherwise.

Now he was procrastinating, stuttering a bit and stumbling over his words. She smiled and knew it wasn’t about the scars. Lily finally cut him off before he made too much of an idiot of himself. “Remus, I already know.” He looked alarmed and grabbed the bottle, taking a very long chug from it and swallowing with a gulp. “I’ve known for a while.”

“Known what?” he asked.

“You and Sirius.”

“Are you finally admitting it out loud, then?” Marlene’s entire face lit up. So maybe she did know.

Remus’ alarm didn’t subside, instead he stood abruptly. “I- I wasn’t aware… I didn’t realize you knew. I was merely going to say that I wasn’t into women very much.”

“Come off it. I see the way you look at him. And the way you’re purposefully _not_ looking at him now. Whatever it is, deal with it, cause I think he feels the same.” Lily grinned, feeling like she was making enlightened points, but a twinge of her felt like she was meddling.

Suddenly Marlene made it a point to cough loud and hard, covering up laughter. The blonde knew something more about this whole thing. Lily narrowed her eyes. She’d work it out.

He shook his head. “I know how he feels.”

When Marlene went to take the bottle of firewhiskey, Lily saw her pout. “We’ve gone through nearly the whole thing!” And then the blonde finished it off and set it on the dresser. Putting a hand on each shoulder, Marlene looked at Remus and the attempted seriousness of it made Lily burst into laughter. “Remus. You beautiful fool. Get out of here, unbutton that shirt a bit-” She undid the first couple buttons for him and then ruffled his hair. “-and go in there and knock his fucking socks off.”

“Oh!” Lily jumped up with an idea. Going into Marlene’s drawer, she dug out two shades of lipstick and had a very bad idea. Within five minutes they were sending Remus back to the boys’ dorm half drunk and with three lip prints in various places from both girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allusions to a lot more to happen in seventh year throughout this chapter. 
> 
> Here's a nice, mildy-lighthearted Lily POV for you after smashing everyone to bits in the last three chapters. Chapter 13 picks up in August with Sirius' perspective and I promise that over the summer he's pulled himself together and is ready to put The Plan in motion. 
> 
> To see what James, Sirius, and Peter got up to in between, read: [The Dragoness' Den](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6027853)
> 
> As usual, thank you and any comments/kudos/whatever are always GREATLY appreciate and completely make my day. Plus, if you follow me on tumblr, send me some damn headcanons: jprongsx.


	13. Motorbike Maintenance and James Potter's Curvy Figure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the August before seventh year and Sirius is enjoying seeing how many ways he can aggravate James, all while forming The Plan to win over Remus' forgiveness. And then Remus shows up at the Potter house with Lily and The Plan goes out the window.

“Prongs, mate! C’mere!” Sirius yelled obnoxiously from the edge of the lake just past the field at the Potter’s house. He was stood in swim shorts and his hair in a defunct bun atop his head. Looking back, he noticed James was waddling like a constipated duck over towards him. So maybe he’d put a little something-something in his pants. “It’s no fun at all to do this without anyone watching!” And once the very grumpy Potter boy came to the shore, arms crossed and a grimace worn underneath his sunglasses, Sirius backed up and then took a running jump onto the tire swing. He swung himself high and the let go, flying through the air with his arms out wide.

What could honestly be better than spending the last couple weeks of summer holidays lazing around the house, swimming, and annoying your best friend? Well, Sirius could name a few things, but that was in due time. A few days and he’d have that sorted - no matter how many times James told him it was a horrible idea.

He swam to the surface and then tread water, beckoning the specky git to just jump in the bloody water. And then, as he turned his back for two seconds, James was on top of him, crushing him into the water. They both came back to the surface, thrashing around and splashing each other.

“You are an absolute twat.” Sirius sneered and splashed at him once more.

“Yeah, well, at least I have my looks!”

“Are we really going there?!”

And as the two of them dunked each other underneath the water, they didn’t notice the audience. James jumped onto his back and he reached behind him to grab his nipple. They yelled very impolite remarks back and forth before they heard someone clear their throat.

“Lily!” James sounded far too high pitched and excited for his own good. Sirius grinned as his best mate stumbled out of the water, chased after the redhead, and then carried her over his shoulder back to the water.

“James Potter! You are wet and disgusting and you had better put me down this instant!”

“Your wish is my command.” And then he took a few more steps and dropped her right in the water. She popped her head back up, flipping her hair back, and glared at him with an anger that he hadn’t seen yet this summer. 

Sirius needed to get away before she decided to take it out on him as well, dodging Lily’s fists as she attempted to pummel James and contain her laughter. As Sirius scrambled back to the beach, he picked up his beer and then looked up to realize that standing right in front of him was the one person he’d wanted to see all summer. Who’s vague messages and absence had been felt through every fiber of his being. Normally he would be throwing his arms around him, but they’d barely spoken in the last few months, since… Since everything went to shit.

“Alright, Moony?” He tried to say as carefully and casually as possible. 

The sandy haired werewolf boy was stood before him in denim and a long-sleeved t shirt, hooking his thumbs into the ends of his sleeves as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Sirius noticed that he was still wearing his glasses, the plastic frame thick enough to sit overtop of the scar across his nose and hide it from anyone not knowing where to look. It made him remember the guilt still lingering at the pit of his stomach.

“Yeah, marvelous, if you count being dragged all over London as Lily’s bloody pack mule before going to the theatre as a brilliant time.” Remus looked exhausted through his deadpan and Sirius knew the full moon was in a few days. “How about you?”

Merlin, he just wanted to grab his wrist and yank him into the house right now. He looked all ragged and vulnerable and Sirius could easily see the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. Though he stood straight and unbothered, his mind was like some impatient child tugging at his own wrist and groaning when his body didn’t move. He suddenly was very aware of Remus’ eyes glancing down his very wet and mostly bare body. The look warmed him from his groin outward and he gave his mate a sly smile. 

“Oh, you know me. I’ve spent all summer brooding and reminding James that he’s an idiot.” He closed the bit of distance between them and grinned doggedly. “C’mon then, you’re going swimming.”

He shook his head. “No, really, I’m okay.”

James had noticed the tension and splashed his way out of the water. “Oi, Moony! Get your bloody trousers off and get in this water!”

This gave Remus a twinge of a smile around the corner of his lips, but he shrugged, hands still in his pockets. “You’re the last one I’d expect trying to get me out of my trousers, James Potter.” And Sirius caught another glance toward himself, making his inner mind-child do a backflip.

“Mate, you’ve no choice.”

Lily was still in the water, beaming over towards them, looking mischievous for reasons Sirius was extremely wary of. She had the air of knowing things everyone else did not and he didn’t like it one bit. “Remus Lupin, if I have to swim, so do you! Get in this water!”

Without taking no for an answer, James grabbed Remus’ right arm and Sirius instinctively grabbed his left. They hoisted him up and pulled him right into the lake. James ran right back out, jumping for the tire swing again, making an enormous splash as he crashed into the water right beside Lily. Sirius smiled, watching as she scoffed and then pushed his head back under the water as soon as he came up for air.

Remus was still standing in the water, top half not exactly wet yet, but he had the expression of trying to decide between getting even or getting out. Sirius decided for him and splashed a bunch of water at him, breaking his concentration and coaxing his revenge. They did this until everyone had wrinkled fingers and they finally trudged out, sopping wet and hungry.

As they got up to the house, Sirius looked over to Remus, who’d begun shivering a bit. “C’mon up with me and I’ll give you a change of clothing.”

Defeated, he sighed and bit his lip. “Guess I’ll have to seeing as how James has the bloody hips of a Spanish woman and I think his trousers would slide right back off of me.”

“Oi, I heard that!” James shoved him playfully as they snuck around the kitchen, passed Mrs. Potter so that she wouldn’t notice the four of the dripping lake water all over her floors. Up the stairs, Lily slipped into the first bedroom, formerly the guest room, but it had served as Lily’s room since Christmas anytime she wanted it.

James trudged into his own room, glaring at Remus once more and mumbling about his curvy figure before disappearing to change his clothes about six times at least, finally deciding on what would impress Lily most. And then his room. He knew it was a bit of a tip, and Remus would notice, but he’d had no warning. They both walked in, and Sirius wished he had time to do a quick spell to tidy, but it seemed cheap in the face of a guest.

Grabbing one of his cleaner towels from the hamper, he chucked it towards Remus. “Strip down and dry off. I’ll try to keep my eyes to myself.” Sirius on the other hand had no issue letting his swimming trousers drop off of his waist unceremoniously and he kicked them by the bed post. Walking over to get himself a towel and wrapping it around his waist. As he turned to ask what the other boy wanted, he noticed Remus was frozen, biting his lip. He looked down at himself once and then cocked his head. “Something wrong, Moony?”

Shaking his head quickly, Remus pulled off his shirt, Sirius couldn’t help but steal a quick gaze before crossing the room to his wardrobe. He heard the thunk of the glasses hitting the floor as if he’d forgotten to take them off before yanking the shirt over his head. He pulled out the grey jumper that he knew Remus enjoyed wearing and a few other bits before walking back to him. Luckily, he’d put the towel on tightly, otherwise the sudden involuntary movement underneath of it would’ve surely caused the coarse fabric to fall right off. 

Somehow his body had become even more appealing. The scar caused by last spring’s unspeakable night had faded to a raised white line from his shoulder, down his chest, and over the part of Remus’ waist that came to a ‘V’ by his protruding hip bones.  _ Fuck _ . He handed Remus the sweater and looked away as he was putting it on. “Thanks, Sirius.”

He nodded and returned to the wardrobe, pulling out a black t shirt and matching trousers. When he was dressed and checked back, Remus was shoving his glasses back on and tidying his hair in the mirror. Sirius decided to leave his hair in the messy wet bun and just let it air dry, not really caring about it for once. It was becoming very awkward and uncomfortable, so Sirius just headed for the door until Remus grabbed his wrist.

“Wait,” And then there went Sirius’ stomach, flipping and dropping into his ankles, his heart taking it’s place. He stopped, looking up at him, hoping for some notion that they could find what it was they’d lost before it had even begun. Remus took a deep breath and let him go, hands going into the pockets of the pair of SIrius’ denim that he was wearing loosely. “I miss you.” Then he started a staring competition with his nose.

Not sure whether to hug him, snog him, or start doing the hula in circles around him, Sirius opted for a more subtle approach and just let his grin return. “I miss you too, so much.” He was trying not to do that thing where he spoke too much and babbled on about nothing in circles until Remus told him not only did he beat the dead horse, but that he’d dragged it around the village until there wasn’t much left.

“Can we get back to being friends?” Remus asked, still not looking at him.

_ Fuck it.  _ Sirius pulled him into his arms, hugging him tightly. It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off and then he hugged him back, Remus’ hand curled around his neck like it always did and Sirius, for the first time in nearly five months, felt whole again. 

“Oh, thank  _ Circe! _ ” James had flung open Sirius’ door and decided he needed to be a part of the hug as well, squishing the two other boys into each other. “I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go on splitting up my time and acting like the child of divorced parents.” He planted a big, wet kiss on both of their cheeks, smiling like a madman. Then he let them go and swung out of the door frame, yelling, “Evans, look! They’ve finally made up!”

At the look of James’ face, he thought that today had been a ploy devised by the likes of James and Lily combined. This smelled of fishiness and that bottle of pinot grigio that they’d polished off a few weeks ago. He let his arms drop from around Remus and gave him a look, as if to say they’d talk more later. At his nod in acknowledgement, Sirius bit his lip, smiling. It was the first time they’d locked eyes since that dreadful night. He wanted to kiss him so badly, but Remus had said ‘friends’, not whatever they hell they had been getting at. He wasn’t going to push his luck.

The night of the full moon, Sirius had gotten a last minute owl asking if he’d come join Remus. Sirius had dropped everything and let James win by forfeit during a very heated battle of chess. He hadn’t even packed a bag, just run out to the garage, and hopped on his new toy. She was sleek and black and purred like the good beast she was. Plus, he’d done quite a bit of tinkering in the three days since he’d bought it, after spending all summer reading up on motorbike maintenance from the muggle magazines Lily had brought him But she didn’t fly - yet. As he started her up, a shudder of excitement ran through him. Best use of his inheritance that he could’ve imagined, especially because his mother would’ve hated it.

Truthfully he did feel like a badass. At first he’d just wanted the bike because he thought it would be cool and he could mess about with it. But then after seeing the magazines and Lily had showed him a few things in some of the shops in town and that was the end of it. The leather jacket was bought a month ago in preparation. James had looked at him a bit funny, but then remarked that it suited him well. He felt very strange at first, but soon fell in love with it, now more so that he was riding with it. He wondered how Remus would take it since it would be a total surprise to him. His mum was a muggle, so he would have definitely seen bikers at some point. A smirk curled on his lips and he pushed the bike faster.

The road to the Lupin’s was through some gorgeous Welsh countryside. And if he knew Remus, he’d be watching out the window for Sirius to walk up from the woods on his broom. Instead, he’d be able to hear him coming. He parked her right in front of the building and revved the engine a bit to get his mate’s attention. Within seconds Remus’ head popped out of the top floor window and his eyes went wide.

“What in the bloody hell are you doing with  _ that _ ?” It was an hour before he needed to be in the cellar in the woods, so Sirius beckoned him with a wave and more engine noise. This cause a minor fuss from the neighbors, but that only fueled Sirius’ ego. Another minute and Remus was limping out of the door to the building his family’s flat was in.

“Sirius… Where did you get this motorbike and why do you have it?” He looked very nervous, not standing too close.

Barking out a laugh, he just beamed at him. “Got my inheritance from my uncle, didn’t I? I bought her!” He reached behind him and handed him the spare helmet that he’d brought. “C’mon then, let’s go for a spin.”

Remus shook his head, staring down at the helmet. “No, I can’t. It’s-”

“Shut up and get on the bike, Moony.”

Cautiously, he put on the helmet and clumsily climbed behind Sirius on the bike, hands shaking a bit as he held onto Sirius’ waist. “I’m not comfortable with this, I-”

And he took off, burning a bit of rubber behind them, still laughing. Sirius didn’t even want to give him the opportunity to complain. Instead it forced Remus to hold onto him tighter, head against his back as they tore around the winds and bends of the Borth seashore. It wasn’t until about fifteen minutes in that Remus finally relaxed, realizing Sirius wasn’t going to crash them. By the time they got around to the woods where the cellar was, Sirius knew Remus was probably ready to be sick from the ride, so he slowed down and then finally stopped at the parking lot for the clearing. 

“Alright, Moony?” He patted his hand, still grinning.

He could feel Remus shaking his head without looking as the boy slid off the back of the bike, taking off the helmet, and looking back at Sirius. “Are you bloody bonkers?” His laugh wasn’t amusing to the werewolf. “You don’t even know what you’re doing! You don’t even have a-” 

Sirius pulled out his wallet, showing Remus a card that said he was legally licensed to drive in the muggle world. “I’ve had a busy summer. Isn’t she great?!”

His disbelief played across his face and he started to laugh, but Sirius could see that he was in a lot of pain. Once they got into the cellar, Remus waved his wand around a few times to put up lights, wards, and charms. After he was finished, he handed his wand to Sirius. It was such a normal thing for  _ normal _ them. But for the fact that it had been five months since they’d properly spoken, Sirius guessed asking him to come tonight and trusting him with his wand was a good sign of the beginnings of forgiveness. 

As Remus pulled off his sweater, he doubled over in pain. Sirius quickly looked through the grate that showed a very small amount of life above the cellar. “Nearly time.” He quickly returned to Remus, helping him onto the small cot. He could hear the bones breaking and feel the tremors beneath his skin. It made him throw up the first time, but now he was just used to it.

“You need to be Padfoot now, Sirius.” He groaned, obviously trying to hold back from screaming for Sirius’ sake. “ _ Please _ . I need to be able to trust you again.” With the harsh sting, Sirius stood and within an instant he was a fluffy black dog with grey eyes and a happy grin. He jumped up onto the cot with Remus, licked his cheek and then lay next to him, nuzzling him as comfort.

The whole night he didn’t sleep. Exhausted, but he hadn’t slept. Remus also hadn’t wanted them to leave the cellar, which was normal, but he missed running alongside the werewolf. Now as Remus was laying on the floor, finally completely in his human form, Padfoot stood up tall as a human. He cracked his back and then his neck, biting his lip at the sight of the naked boy in front of him. Kneeling beside him, he checked to make sure that he hadn’t hurt himself, which he might have a bruise or two from wrestling, but that was it. Satisfied, Sirius slid his joggers and sweater back onto him carefully and scooped him up, tenderly putting an arm under his knees and the other against his back. He hadn’t considered the bike, exactly, or how to get Remus back while he was still unconscious yet. 

With an idea, Sirius sat down with Remus in front of him on the bike and magicked them together with a sticking charm. He grinned and put on Remus’ helmet. The ride was slow as he wasn’t yet used to the motion of the motorbike, but he didn’t want to crash as he was driving while maintaining Remus’ position. He’d die if he knew what was happening, so Sirius decided he’d probably just not tell him. Twenty minutes later they’d arrived back at his flat and he released the charm, catching the limp werewolf in his arms.

When Remus finally woke up an hour later, Sirius was actually asleep sat on the floor next to the bed, his head resting against his bent arm and the other hand loosely holding onto Remus’ fingers. He woke to the bed squeaking as Remus shifted to sit up a bit. Lurching up, Sirius cleared his throat and smiled up at him. “Morning, Moony.”

A smile! He got a smile back. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

With a small chuckle, he shrugged. “We’re trying to be friends again, remember? Didn’t want to cross any lines, so I figured this was safe.”

“H-How did we get back?”

Sirius winked and rested his head again, “Don’t you worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, you can all stop saying how awful you feel for them because they're mending things! 
> 
> Comments, kudos, tumblr messages, all of it - it keeps me going and totally makes my day. You're all phenomenal!


	14. Emmeline Vance and the Badge for the Biggest Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which James receives a shiny badge, asks a lot of 'why' questions, and for once doesn't actually want to be the center of attention. Alternatively, the chapter that Marlene threatens to hex off Regulus' sensitive bits, Sirius blows a gasket on the bike, and James makes Remus blush. Welcome to seventh year.

There was a thump and then suddenly his mattress leaned to the side a bit. “Get out of my bed, Sirius.” James groaned and swatted at him with a pillow, pulling his duvet around him tighter.

Obviously not going to listen, Sirius snuggled in against the spare pillow, hiding his face into James’ back. This wasn’t worth the effort. He was too tired. “No, Lily kept coming in and yelling at me in my room. Just gonna kip in here.”

“Well, get your elbow out of my arse and kip, then. Yeah?”

“Get up, Potter!” Lily was shrieking from just outside of his door. She banged continuously on it, calling them a flurry of different slurs, so James shoved the pillow over his head.

“Please tell me you-”

“Charmed the bloody door so she can’t get it open? Yep.”

“Bloody brilliant, you are. Ta - now, fuck off and get the blasted elbow out of my - thank you.”

Finally at about noon, both boys stumbled down the stairs half dressed. James hadn’t bothered to even look at his hair, so it stuck up in ways no respectful man’s hair should. And as he looked at Sirius’, it wasn’t much better. Lily was at the table, her grin splitting her cheeks from ear to ear, all her summer freckles bouncing across her laugh lines as she babbled about Merlin knows what. If someone would’ve tried to tell him a year ago that he’d be sharing his home with both Sirius Black and Lily Evans, he would’ve called them barking mad. But that was their household now and, honestly, he wouldn’t prefer it any other way.

“Black or two sugars this morning?” Sirius yawned, going over towards the pot of tea with two mugs.

“Black. Like I like my men.” He winked at Sirius, who pretended to laugh before making a rude gesture.

Mrs. Potter came up from behind Sirius, pinching his side. “You better watch those fingers before you lose them, Sirius, dear.” At her soft scolding, Sirius’ cheeks went a bit red, but he still mouthed obnoxious kisses at James.

Lily pulled him into the chair next to her, absolutely radiating with either something nuclear or maybe his father had put some sort of charm on her to make the sun shine out of more than just her arse. “Our letters came this morning.” She looked insanely impatient, biting her lip and shoving his at him,

“What, did you hex mine to explode? You’re too chipper for this early in the morning, afternoon, whatever it is.” James turned the envelope over before sliding a finger underneath of the flap as Sirius set his tea in front of him. For some reason his mother looked like she was about to explode out of happiness and he narrowed his eyes. “What are you lot not telling me?”

Before he could get his letter out, Sirius snatched up Lily’s from the other side of her and then squeezed her shoulders. “Not bad, Evans! C’mon, Prongs, open the bloody letter so I can take the piss out of you!”

“Shh!” Lily elbowed him.

“Honestly, it’s a bloody letter telling me about-” As he looked at it a shining piece of metal fell into his lap. “What the-? Oh for Merlin’s saggy left-”

“Finish that sentence, James Ignotus Potter, and I will make you eat the socks right off your feet.”

“Sorry, mum,” James mumbled. He stared at the badge with wide eyes and then checked the letter to make sure that it wasn’t just some joke they were all playing on him. “Is Dumbledore mad? Me, Head Boy?”

With this, Mr. Potter looked over top of the paper. “ _ You’re _ Head Boy?”

“Apparently so.”

Mrs. Potter stepped behind her husband, giving his shoulders a loving rub, “And  _ Lily _ is Head Girl.”

James looked over at her and broke into a huge, toothy smile. He couldn’t help but hug her, and as he squeezed her tight, she froze, toast halfway chewed. After a few seconds she patted his arm and made a funny face before pushing his forehead away with her index finger. “But really though, I think Dumbledore has lost it. The only person in seventh year with more detentions than me is Sirius.”

“Way to go, mate. Point me out even more as the family fuck up, I mean… Family… Oh, bollocks, Mrs. P,  _ I know _ .” Sirius laughed, sipping his overly milky tea while leaning back against the counter top. “So, James, does that mean you’re going to spend all year scolding me?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“It seems to get you off when Remus does it,” Lily muttered under her breath and then when she realized what she had said out loud, she quickly took a very over exaggerated drink from her own cuppa.

Sirius blushed, and then opened his own letter, clearing his throat. He was definitely missing something here. It didn’t matter though as he was too preoccupied with staring at the shining gold badge. Why on Earth had Dumbledore given him Head Boy? He knew Remus has sworn it off, saying he would refuse it because it needed to focus more on his studies, but there had to have been other candidates? 

“What’s wrong, James?” His mother asked as she took scones out of the oven and like the curious old bitty she was, she made sure to touch the pastries right away just to jump back and said ‘ouch’. Sometimes she was too much of a bad influence on him.

“I just don’t get why.” James shrugged, turning the badge over in his hand. “I mean, Lily is the obvious choice for Head Girl, without any competition. But why make me Head Boy?”

A voice came from the front door. “Because Dumbledore figured you had to grow up eventually.” Remus smirked, holding his own letter in his hand. “I came as soon as you owled, Lily. Congratulations!” Behind him, through the open door, there was a ruckus and he rolled his eyes. “Peter apparated right into the mud by the drive.” He held up one finger to pause his thought before extending his wand towards Peter’s feet and laughed as they bubbled up and then cleaned themselves. 

“Thanks, Moony. Merlin’s saggy left one, Dumbledore made  _ Prongs _ Head Boy?” Peter greeted them, giving Mrs. Potter a quick peck on the cheek and ruffling James hair from behind.

"No worries, mate. Oh, brilliant! Tea's already made."

“Wonderful. Now that they can apparate, we’ll never be rid of them, love.” Mr. Potter mumbled sarcastically from behind the Daily Prophet. James smiled towards his father. The man needed another few cups of coffee before he could actually function on any morning following a night he’d had a bit of firewhiskey. Today was most definitely one of those mornings.

Remus leaned over James’ shoulder to look at the badge as well. “Reckon it’s real or did Dumbledore rub his hands together and plot a letter tomorrow saying he was only messing about?”

“He just wants James to have to owl everyone he knows twice. Once to say he’s all grown up, like, and then a second one to negate that and say he’s still the same old cheeky twat - sorry, Mrs. Potter - as always.” Everyone glared at Sirius as he wasn’t even trying to contain himself. But James noticed his eyes weren’t even on his bright and shiny badge. They were looking at the mop of sandy hair just passed his shoulder.

After devouring scones and dripping crumbs all over the kitchen floor, much to his mother’s dismay, Sirius wanted to drag the other four of them into the garage to show them his work on the motorbike. It’s all James and Lily had heard about for weeks now and they were both just happy he could drone on about it for a different audience.

“And I found this brilliant charm to…”

Lily sat on the workbench beside James, and bumped her arm against his. “You do realize this means you’ll actually have to  _ be _ Head Boy, right?”

He mimicked her and then groaned. “Yes, I’m aware. And I’m actually quite excited. It’s a good opportunity. And I should be well proud that the headmaster thinks I’m keen and responsible enough for it.”

“I don’t think  _ responsible _ is the right word. “Lesser of all evils’ might be better terminology. But, I really think that badge should say ‘abnormally large Head Boy’ instead. Maybe that’s what he meant.”

“Oi, watch it, Ging.”

“...and I’ve installed this lever here so that when you’re…”

His eyes fluttered up and down her frame as she sat beside him, an unlikely pair indeed. He hadn’t forgot the kiss at the end of the last term either, just he wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it.

“...No, you daft git, you can’t put a…”

When she met his gaze, he could feel his cheeks flush and they both smiled. “You’ll just have to keep me in line, I guess.” It was like pieces falling into place of a fantasy. James nearly said something then, nearly leaned in before she decided they were getting too close again.

The was a loud bang that sounded like an explosion. All of a sudden the entire garage was filled with thick, black smoke. All five of them were coughing and stumbling towards the door.

“Padfoot, what in the-”

“I thought you said you knew what you were doing!” 

“Yep, that was the exhaust. Fucking hell, I just repaired it. Stupid-”

“Ow! Who kicked me?”

 

“Aw, mate, this feels weird. Can I take it off?” James pouted while Sirius fixed his collar. The Platform was bustling with everyone getting onto the train and James was actually a bit embarrassed about the whole Head Boy thing. “I’ll offer Remus to swap. Padfoot, I can’t be Head Boy. I don’t  _ care _ if Podmore hexes Nott in the corridor.” 

“Shut up and stop whimpering. You’re a bloody stag, for Merlin’s sake. Aren’t you supposed to be regal and proud?” Sirius gave him a quick slap and then pointed at him. “This badge is our ticket, Prongs. With Moony being a prefect and you the boy with the biggest head - your brain head-”

“I get it, Sirius.”

“Well, anyway, this year is going to be amazing!” Sirius winked and then jumped about a mile when Lily came behind to pinch his arse. James narrowed his eyes. They had this weird sibling-type relationship with all of these inside jokes. He was actually a bit jealous on both sides. 

With a wave, Remus came up, and then slowly glanced his eyes over at James without moving when suddenly James had put his arm over his shoulder. “Morning, lads. Lily.” Oh, Remus had the badge on the right side. Was it supposed to go right or left? He didn’t really care anyway, but he was a ball of nerves and afraid of mucking the whole thing up and being the biggest disappointment since Emmeline Vance had caught the snitch in third year right out from under Gryffindor and they’d lost the house cup because of it.

“James, get out of your head.” Sirius kicked him.

He looked up, “Oi, you! I could dock points, y’know!”

Lily kicked him in his other shin. “I think at least for the first day, maybe we should leave the docking of points to me.” She grabbed both James and Remus by their ties and started pulling them to the front carriages. “C’mon, we need to get to the prefect’s compartment and form a plan of action.”

Trying to keep up with her, James shuffled his feet and frowned back at Sirius and Peter, who had just joined him, looking very much like the last puppy left in the litter. “So what exactly do you expect me to do?”

Once she stepped onto the train, she let them go, turning around and pointing to them both. “ _ I _ need to establish myself as a strong leader, and  _ you _ , Potter. You need to make them realize that just because you weren’t a prefect before doesn’t mean they don’t need to respect you.”

When she turned around, he looked over at Remus with wide eyes. “What, does she think she’s the Captain of the British Army or something?”

Remus pushed his glasses onto the bridge of his nose and shoved him onto the train as the whistle began to blow. “She’s nervous, but is showing it in a much more constructive way than yourself. You’re going to be fine.”

The prefect’s compartment was spacious with multi-colored pillows and sweets laid out on the table. Remus had already picked up a bar of chocolate as Lily cleared her throat for everyone that had already found their way here. James had planned on standing there until Remus punched him in the arm, then he walked over next to Lily and waved to everyone. Jenny Davies winked at him from her spot by the window, legs crossed and tried to mouth something to him, but he looked away.

“James?” Lily turned to him.

“Right. Let’s make everything run smoothly. I’m James, but no introduction is really needed. Everyone here knows me. I’m your new Head Boy…” And all of a sudden he had stepped directly into a speech about house respect and, bloody hell, where was his pulling all of this out of? Remus laughed, smiling at him, looking oddly proud. And then when he finally, thankfully, stopped talking, Lily picked up right where he left off, explaining their plans.

Before she could finish, the heard a loud noise and screams. Everyone immediately looked at him and he threw his hands up. “I’m right bloody here. It wasn’t me, yeah?”

“You’re normally the first name someone suggests.” Lily whispered.

“Brilliant.” James rolled his eyes and was the first one out of the compartment. He put a hand on his wand just in case and stomped off down the train, Remus in tow and Lily staying with the other prefects. It was at least three carriages down and when they heard more screams they both started to run.

If it weren’t for the stupid badge, he would be egging the entire thing on, by the looks of it. Sirius’ brother Regulus had done something to piss off Marlene McKinnon. She had her wand pointed directly at his face as he lay on the floor, cowering up against the side of the train, looking quite startled. 

“If I  _ ever _ hear you so much as whisper Mary’s name, I’ll hex you so hard you’ll be sure to write home to Mummy and advise her that you’re going to need a new set of genitalia to go with that expensive new tattoo you're showing off.” She sneered, knuckles white with rage.

James put a hand on the small of her back, whispering, “You’ve embarrassed him, now help me out a bit and I’ll tell Jenny that I overheard you talking about your wild summer in Spain with a lady named Esmerelda.” 

She turned around, not taking the wand away from Regulus’ face. She winked at him. “Deal.” And then rolling her shoulders, she returned her wand to her robes and fluffed her hair up some, walking back the way that James and Remus had just come. On her way past Black, she kicked him in the crotch slyly, making him double over in pain.

Nudging him, Remus coaxed him to keep walking. “Diplomatic. I like your style, Prongs. Now let’s see what happens when you catch Sirius threatening him.” He was much more comfortable asserting his prefecture over other students, as long as he didn’t normally speak to them. BUt most of them seemed to just give Remus an air of respect that he’d never seen people issue to him. It made James smile as with every adversity that Remus faced, he could see that he still tried to be the best person he could - even if he was a complete twat sometimes.

“So, are you and Sirius all water-under-the-bridge now?”

“What? What do you mean?” Remus looked over at him, amber eyes darting around with alarm. There was fishiness. He knew it.

“I know he came to stay with you for the last moon.”

“Yeah, we’re working on that.” Remus looked down at his feet. “I’m still leery about trusting him with it at Hogwarts, but I don’t have much of a choice if I’d like to keep what little virgin skin I have left.”

He snorted, and shook his head at Remus. “You’ve got no  _ virgin _ skin left, mate. Dorcas made sure of that. Wild cougar of a beater she was.” He made a growling noise, happily thinking about his own romp with her in fifth year. 

He laughed nervously, nodding, “Yeah, we’ll go with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you got a few good Easter Eggs out of that one. More of those to come, but, here's a look at what to expect from seventh year: James Potter grows up, but is still an idiot. Sirius Black fucks up (even more), but is forgiven. Lily Evans can't control her angst, but proves her talent. Remus Lupin is happy, but knows it's short-lived. Marlene McKinnon gets over herself, but not Jenny Davies. Peter Pettigrew wants to stand out, but cowers when it matters. Fist fights, duels, sex, death, and a hell of a lot more McGonagall. 
> 
> ALSO... It's already been plotted out for a while now, but after AOBM finishes (still got a while yet, no worries), there will be a follow up. So if you're loving these six fools, they'll continue in Mistakes We Knew We Were Making. 
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading, liking, commenting, bookmarking, messaging, and generally being a load of phenomenally supportive people. Please, find me on tumblr as I do love a good chat: jprongsx - or, alternatively, my non-marauders tumblr, neverbeenasafebet.


	15. Broomstick Puns and the Awkwardness of Hand Holding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As seventh year commences, both Dumbledore and McGonagall give somber speeches. There's a lot of supportive hand holding, bad puns, and a lot of time spent in Remus' head. After all is said, Remus tells Sirius that he forgives him for the events surrounding the accidental prank.

The start of term feast was somber after the sorting. Dumbledore spoke about the war starting, claiming Hogwarts was the safest place for them and that there were people for them to speak to. He’d asked for a moment of silence for the friends and family they’d lost already. At the end of it, everyone had raised their goblets. In that moment, Remus had caught Lily’s eyes.  _ For Mary _ , they’d exchanged silently. He’d been reading the papers. He knew about the disappearances. He also knew that they were preaching about purifying the wizarding race. Not only was he a half blood, but he was a half breed as well. 

Sirius must’ve realized Remus’ hands were trembling as he was staring at his untouched supper. DUmbledore was reminding everyone that they needed to stick together and the only thought crossing his mind was that in their tight-knit group, it was himself and Lily in the most danger of being singled out during this genocide. James and Sirius were blood traitors, but they were still purebloods. Peter was half blood with muggle family members and hardly anyone knew Marlene’s father was muggleborn, so they weren’t in any immediate danger.

Next thing Remus knew, Sirius’s hand was gripping his under the table. He was grateful to be able to squeeze it for comfort, but he still wasn’t fully comfortable with Sirius. In reality, though, they needed each other as they were better together. All of Sirius’ broken parts fit into his own missing pieces to form something strong and whole. The only reason they finally let go was because the feast was over. As he looked across the table, he noticed that James had grabbed Lily’s hand as well. It gave him a small smile.

When they got into the common room, there was a brown tabby perched on the mantle, watching as everyone entered. She stared right at them, and then looked over to the chairs by the fire. James nudged him and Peter, who’d been walking beside him. The four of them, along with Lily and Marlene sat down by McGonagall just as she jumped off the mantle and back into her normal, slightly intimidating form. 

“Can all of the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students please remain in the common room? The rest of you, please make your way up to your dorms and we should be finished shortly.” Their head of house stood with her arms folded as younger students climbed the stairs, looking disappointed that they weren’t invited to whatever unusual meeting this was.

As soon as she was satisfied that they were all here and no extras were lingering, she waved her wand.  _ Silencing charms _ , Remus thought to himself. She shrugged the tension off of her shoulders and gave them all a weak smile. “Welcome back, Gryffindors. As I’m sure that you’re all very excited to be back at Hogwarts and to see your friends, I’m also sure that you’re aware of what is happening outside of these walls. Today, while you were on the train, there was a large scale attack a few blocks from Kings Cross.

Whispers begun, but one look from her and everyone quieted. “We didn’t want to alert the students until we were certain of the details. It will, no doubt, be in the papers tomorrow. The dark wizard responsible for these devastating attacks and the widespread terror is a man named Tom Riddle, who is calling himself ‘Voldemort’.” She pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “And there have been rumors that he has spent the summer recruiting other witches and wizards for his cause - some of them potentially students here at Hogwarts. I only ask that you stay cautious and please report anything suspicious to either myself, your house prefects, or Lily Evans and James Potter - as they are your Head Girl and Head Boy this year.”

Remus gave a chuckle as he saw both of the flush with red at all of the sudden eyes on them. And he noticed that their fingertips were dangerously closed to being intertwined as they sat together on the window sill. 

“I will be having one on one conversations with all of you about career paths and your studies as usual, so if you have any concerns, you may bring them up to me then. Thank you all and welcome back.” Another weak smile and then she shifted her attention to Lily and James before walking out of the portrait hole. 

As soon as she was out of earshot, everyone began talking loudly amongst themselves and looking a bit panicked, but not actually saying anything out loud. Sirius had his hand on Remus’ knee, gripping it firmly. He finally looked over at him to realize that Sirius’ face was completely blank.

Peter spoke before he could. “Padfoot, you okay? You look nearly as pale as Remus.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oi, Wormtail. Watch it.”

Sirius finally exhaled and looked between them and swallowed. “Not here. Not right now.”

Although he really didn’t have a choice as Marlene stood up and walked in front of him. She pushed her blonde hair behind her shoulders and the two of them made eye contact. Remus felt discomfort in the look they exchanged, a twinge of jealousy. “Sirius, your brother.”

“I know.” Instead of stopping thought, he stood and walked past her, towards the dormitory stairs. No one followed him initially, knowing he wanted a minute to himself.

This time it was Remus who spoke first. “Marlene - On the train?”

She nodded, looking alarmed. “He was bragging and showing off some tattoo. I had a feeling then based on what my parents were saying.”

“Last year, before Snape -” He stopped, swallowing as he thought about the curse. “Before Snape nearly killed me, the two of them were discussing something about being chosen.”

“It would be bloody Regulus and Snape.” James spat and clenched his fists. “Let me fucking catch one of them flashing some stupid tattoo around and I’ll-”

“Immediately tell Professor McGonagall and not take matters into your own hands,  _ Head Boy _ .” Lily finished it for him, before he could make threats. 

“I’m going to go check on Sirius.” Remus went after him, fixing his glasses onto his face. The dormitory hadn’t changed at all since they’d left it. But Sirius’ curtains were already drawn around his bed. Remus bit his lip before pushing them aside and crawling into the bed with him. 

As he could’ve guessed, Sirius wasn’t crying, but he very rarely did. Remus could count on one hand the number of times he’d watched Sirius Black cry - and three of those times had been after the horrific incident. Even so, he hadn’t even looked up at Remus.

Sitting down in front of him, he grabbed both of Sirius’ hands tightly. “I won’t disrespect you enough to ask the obvious. You’re not alright.” Then he finally looked up, their eyes locking for the second time in months. Remus wanted so desperately to just close the distance and kiss him, hard and long and make him forget everything - help himself forget everything. “Sirius Orion Black,” he started with a sly smile, “I want you to know that not only do I forgive you, but you are my best friend in the entirety of this extremely fucked up world. So, provided you’ll have me, I’d like to get back to being best mates again.”

This broke Sirius’ demeanor and they both started cracking up laughing. His best friend pulled him straight into a hug, and they wrestled a little bit, calling each other a slew of names that hadn’t been mentioned in months. After a few minutes, Sirius was on top of him, pinning him to the bed, their arms and legs tangled. His breath was  _ so _ close.

Sirius paused for a moment before reaching down and taking off Remus’ glasses. The gesture made him bite his lip, extremely nervous as it exposed the scars across his face. But nonetheless he stayed still, simply closing his eyes as Sirius brought a finger to trace the one that began right beneath his left eye. He crossed it with fingers like feathers, over his nose and to where it stopped at the top of the opposite cheek.

“I’m so-”

“I asked you to stop apologizing. Please, take that on board.”

“So I’m really forgiven?”

He opened his eyes, looking up to the concern on Sirius’ face and then smiled. “Of course you are.” And then he pulled him into a firm hug, letting him collapse onto his chest. It was the first time he’d seen him completely relax since everything happened. As he did, Remus could feel Sirius’ heart racing and then his chest began to tremble unevenly. 

This would be the sixth time that he had seen Sirius Black cry. Remus pulled him tighter against his chest and rubbed his back gently. “It’s alright, I’ve got you again. I’m here.” And without even thinking, his hands went into his hair and tangling his fingers through it felt amazing. 

It took him a good half an hour to finally breath normally again after sobbing hard into Remus’ shoulder. Eventually he was able to get him to turn back onto his side and they lay in bed, snuggled up under the covers. 

“And then we had to go into this clothing shop and I swear I was sat there for two hours watching her and Marlene try on clothing. I carried the bags, held the bloody umbrella, and the only saving grace was that as they both ate like birds, I finished their lunches as I was famished after all that shopping.” He rolled his eyes overdramatically, something that was normally a Sirius thing to do, but Remus knew it would make him smile. “And I thought going to Diagon Alley with you was bad. I’d much rather look at broomsticks and all the other ruddy stuff you like than ever doing that again.”

His laugh lines were showing and Remus bit his lip as Sirius grinned over to him. “You won’t live that last bit down. You’re going to look at all of the broomsticks with me.” Was that a wink? Yes, it was.  _ Holy, Merlin. _ “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed  _ this _ .”

“Me too, more than I’ll ever care to admit because then it will inflate your ego to unsurmounted proportions and I’ll have to deal with the fallout.” This sent them both rolling in laughter again.

All of a sudden, Sirius grabbed his hand, and pulled him close. “Moony, I have missed you. I missed us, and,” Sirius started, but Remus knew where this was going. “I just want to know-”

“Shut up, Sirius.” He smashed a hand over his face playfully. “You’re talking too much again. Let’s just be us, alright? We’ll figure it out together. Stop over analyzing it.”

As an afterthought, Remus should have just let Sirius finish because he wasn’t ready for what came next.

Sirius’ lips, amazing and warm and tender and all the things that Remus desperately wanted and needed were pressing into his nervously. Out of shock, he initially froze, mind telling him to stop, he couldn’t get involved like this right away. He needed to take things slow. But then their fingers were gripping one another and he realized there was still a hand in his hair and he was kissing him back. He shouldn’t be kissing him back. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to stop.  _ No. You just got him back, you useless, twat. Stop. _ He tried to break away once, but Sirius’ mouth followed his and then his tongue found his way to his and it was nearly all over from there. Luckily Remus came to his senses just as Sirius went to roll on top of him.

“No, Sirius, stop.” He broke apart from him and pushed him away slightly. “We can’t.” Both of them were panting and Remus’ entire body was rebelling against him. “It’s not that I don’t want this, because believe me when I say that I do, so badly. I want  _ you _ . I’m just not… I’m not ready for everything that comes along with that yet. We need to figure out our trust again first.”

Those grey eyes looked painful and ashamed. “I’m so-”

“No, don’t be.” Remus brought him into his arms, hugging him and kissing his forehead. “Never be sorry for that. Ever.” He felt Sirius nuzzle into his neck, mumbling apologies anyway. “Do you want me to go-”

“No!’ He looked up, gripping Remus’ shoulders. “I mean, please stay. Please?”

A grin played across his lips, and both of them relaxed.

“So what are we going to do about sleeping?” Remus admitted. They couldn’t exactly wear their trousers and button downs to sleep in.

Sirius’ cheeks blushed. “We never used to care about that.”

“Slow, Padfoot. Remember?”

He nodded and held up a finger as it to tell him to wait a second. And then he stumbled off the bed, dug around in his trunk and slipped back in with two t shirts. “Problem solved.”

Yes, problem solved. All that would separate them would be very thin t shirts and their pants? Great. Remus thought that they might as well sleep naked as there wasn’t going to be enough fabric between them not to feel any of them same things. At least the visuals wouldn’t be  _ as _ hot and hard and -  _ Fuck. Stop. Puppies. Peter’s snoring. Montague’s monobrow.  _ Much better.

It wasn’t. As he lay curled up with Sirius’ arms wrapped around him, the only thing he could do was have a book out and read by wand light. It wasn’t long before Sirius had fallen asleep, his heavy arm draped overtop of Remus, the other one beneath their pillows. He could feel the pattern of his breathing again, something he hadn’t been able to in a long time. It was soothing, relaxing. It made him smile, so he pulled himself even closer. This is how it should be every night. He closed his eyes, lacing his fingers with Sirius’.  _ Every _ night. It was the best sleep he’d had in five months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some nice Remus/Sirius fluff. I'll lull you into a nice fuzzy place before blowing everything up - cause that's coming.
> 
> Thank you all - again - as always! Your support means loads. I'm starting to catch up to myself now though, so the panic is setting in! (I say that, but I'm still like... six chapters ahead of what I'm posting). 
> 
> Kudos, Comments, Reviews, and the like are all absolutely golden. And, of course, feel free to chat on tumblr: jprongsx.


	16. Benjy Fenwick and the Hexing Hormonal Hippogriffs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Career talks with McGonagall and Halloween Feasts. Oh yeah, and that whole bit where Lily is almost every bit as guilty as James.

The inside of Professor McGonagall’s office was anything but new to her, being both a prefect and Gryffindor. Regardless, every time she sat in this room there was something different and fascinating that she found. Once she swore that one of the younger Minerva McGonagalls had pulled the smart-looking wizard stood into the photograph into a quick snog, leaving the blonde man a bit bewildered and wide-eyed. Today she noticed a stack of parchment near the window, looking like it was a series of letters. It wasn’t worth the risk to take a peak because her head of house would stroll back into the office any second after scolding someone out in the corridor.

The entire room had a very golden glow to it, though. There were a few torches and a gas lantern on the table - she never had understood why wizards didn’t just use normal lights - but even the tapestries that hung and the bits and bobs littered around the shelves all had the most homey feeling of any other professor’s office. And she had to note the small, not so hidden collection of Holyhead Harpies and England Quidditch paraphernalia. It made her chuckle a bit that the stern, tight-lipped professor could get so bent-backwards and out-of-shape about sports. She honestly didn’t think she ever saw McGonagall more happy than when Gryffindor won a match - especially against Slytherin.

Quidditch brought her to thinking about a certain black haired boy whose house she had accidentally end up calling her home. It was all very confusing and she didn’t exactly know what to make of it. Never would Lily Evans ever have thought she would knowingly and willingly spend her holidays with the likes of James Potter and Sirius Black. Marlene’s family had been nice enough, but she was still treated like a guest. At the Potter’s house, she was treated as a sudden third child that they had just completely forgotten about until now. Even to the point of writing at least biweekly to Mrs. Potter. Lily doubted that even James wrote to his own mother that much, but to be fair, she was pretty sure that the surrogate mother who had adopted a muggleborn witch that she’d never actually met before spoke more to the two strays than she did her own flesh and blood.

“Miss Evans, please pardon my lateness!” Professor McGonagall threw up her hands as she sat down, easing into the smile that she rarely showed. It still took Lily aback to get such a reaction from her. “Some students just don’t understand that we keep rules for  _ specific _ reasons. And gallivanting around the castle like a herd of hexing, hormonal hippogriffs will simply not be tolerated. That’s what the bloody grounds are for.” 

Lily forced a laugh and then covered her mouth, nearly positive it somehow involved a certain four Gryffindor boys. “It’s no worry, Professor. Gave me a bit of extra time to figure out what to say.” She shrugged and accepted a raspberry tart from the platter she was offered.

Clapping her hands together, Minerva McGonagall folded herself into her desk comfortably, giving Lily a nodding acknowledgement so they could begin the actual reason she was in here. The dreaded final year career meeting. “Now, Miss Evans, when we spoke last year, you had brought up the notion of being a healer. Looking at your predicted grad-”

“No.” Lily interrupted her. “Sorry, I mean, no. I’ve reconsidered what I believe I want to accomplish.” She didn’t even dare call it a career, because it wouldn’t be considered as such.

“Oh?” The older witch had a mildly amused expression. 

“I think I want to do something more immediately needed.” Suddenly the laces of her shoes were very interesting, but Lily forced herself to look straight into the large golden brown eyes with conviction and confidence. “With recent events taken into consideration, Professor, I want to help.”

She wasn’t understanding, or she was trying to narrow her eyes in an attempt for Lily to elaborate without actually suggesting anything.

“We’ve all heard the rumors that are going around about choosing sides and taking a stand.”  _ Gulp _ . “I want to fight, Professor. I want to find a way I can help.” The smile was back and it was intimidating and encouraging at the same time. “I’m top of my classes in nearly every subject and I just think I could be more useful to the wizards and witches who are fighting Vol- Voldemort and his followers. I can always become a healer afterwards.”

After a moment of relatively awkward silence where it felt like McGonagall was turning Lily’s pages over in her head. She nodded, trying to keep in a smile. “Well, you’re right tht you do have top marks in almost everything. As I’m sure you’ve already imagined, I can’t exactly tell you much about studying harder and especially with the circumstance you’ve been through this year.”

“Thanks, professor. I-”

She held a hand up, chuckling a bit. “I think I have the perfect fit for you. I’ll put a word in with an old friend and I’ll be in touch.” Adjusting her glasses, McGonagall stood and walked to the door, opening it for Lily.

Stepping out the the office, Lily was a bit nervous about exactly what that meant and why her career meeting barely lasted over five minutes when last year’s lasted forty five minutes. As she looked up, she walked straight into a very firm chest that she wasn’t expecting.

James chuckled, grabbing her wrists so she didn’t stumble. “Alright, Evans?” He smirked down at her, winking. She really needed to stop noticing all of the stupid, minute details about him and his crooked smile that was definitely not adorable and how she really wished that he would push his glasses up so they weren’t ready to fall off the tip of his nose. 

“Merlin’s sake, Potter. Watch where you’re walking.” Hopefully he couldn’t see her frustration.

Stepping aside, he held his hands up in surrender and let her walk passed. “You know, for a Head Girl, I thought you’d be a bit more-”

“POTTER!” McGonagall shouted from inside her office. “Stop bloody flirting and sit down!” When he stayed to give her a small wave, she added, “ _ Now _ .”

With a coy smirk, Lily wiggled her fingers into a wave at him before turning on her heel and heading for the courtyard, where she was hoping Marlene was still sat pining over whoever it was this week. With any luck she still had some sweets left and they could skive off the rest of the afternoon and chock it up to career meetings and such. Lily didn’t much feel like being responsible right this second.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she flopped down in the grass next to her best friend, flinging her satchel down next to her. Some Head Girl she was. There were a pair of third years stuffing dungbombs into their robes, but honestly, she couldn’t be bothered right now. Two days of dreading this meeting had proved utterly unnecessary as McGonagall hadn’t even blinked when she had said her piece. 

“That was quick,” Marlene raised an eyebrow as she popped a peppermint imp into her mouth. “Thought you’d be in there until breakfast tomorrow with all the planning you’d done.”

“Oh, hush up, Marlene. Not all of us can get by on our charm.”

The blonde winked and then looked over Lily’s shoulder. It caught Lily’s attention and she turned to see Sirius leaning against the stone bannister. “Alright, Sirius?”

“Absolutely peachy, Lily.” He winked at her and then turned to Marlene. “Fizzing whizbee.” At that remark, he was walking off back into the castle. That was probably the most confusing interaction she’d ever seen, but something smelled of no good about it and she narrowed her eyes.

“See you back at the common room, yeah, Lily?” Marlene gathered her things and gave her a weak smile before standing up. 

“Wait, what?” Lily shifted her eyes and she bit her lip. “Yeah, sure…” And then Marlene was off after Sirius. She wasn’t sure that she actually wanted to know what was going on there. Something in her told her that she should go and talk to Remus, though. He was just starting to open up again and she had known about his feelings even before he’d fully revealed them at Christmas. If Sirius was getting off with Marlene again, he really should know since they had finally been mending their friendship after last term.

Before she could actually get up, James was plopping down in front of her. “Alright, so tell me that was the weirdest career meeting ever.” He wiped his glasses on his tie and then once they were returned to his face, he began rolling a cigarette. “I’m right though, aren’t I?”

Rolling her eyes at his disgusting habit, she relaxed a bit, temporarily forgetting about the conundrum that was Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black. “Due to the fact that you’re here, I’m guessing yours was as short as mine?”

James nodded, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Yeah, bit of conversation and then she asked if my plans were the same and simply told me I was free to go and that she would be in touch. Fucking madness.” It didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest though.

“Mine was a bit more than that, but do you think McGonagall is in on the rebellion against the dark wizards?”

“Oh, absolutely. She’s probably second in command or something, giving her scary face to the bloody bastards in between duels. Y'know, all McGonagall style.”

Exchanging glances, they both laughed and James lay back, resting his head on Lily’s leg. Absentmindedly she let her fingers play with his dark curls softly, watching as they bounced out of her grasp and that’s when she noticed his eyes beneath his glasses, peering up at her as he exhaled smoke. When had they gotten  _ this _ comfortable around each other? Regardless, it was nice and she simply smiled down at him.

 

Breakfast was brilliant on Halloween, and Lily’s sweet tooth got the best of her. Caramel apples and pumpkin muffins. She was in heaven. Plus, there was chocolate, so as she sat between Remus and Marlene, the three of them agreed that they’d hex anyone trying to grasp at anything within a two foot radius of them. Her green eyes met Remus’ amber ones and she smiled to him, noting how much happier he’d seemed lately and instantly feeling a bit ill. 

“Oh, shit, Jenny is looking over this way.” Marlene whispered a bit loudly, and hid her face in Lily’s shoulder, mumbling about not being ready to deal with her and possibly finally being over her. It made Lily spit out juice into her hand - the notion of Marlene finally being over the Ravenclaw chaser.

“Merlin’s sake, Marls.” Remus snorted and reached a hand over to pat her head in a patronizing fashion. 

But Lily did notice that Jenny was glaring at her and abruptly turning away. “She’s gone back to whatever she was doing before. Stop hiding, you look like a right idiot doing all that business. Fix your hair and eat a bloody muffin.”

“Godric, Lily, don’t be so gentle.” Marlene rolled her eyes, but obeyed, smoothing out her long, straight hair and then stuffing a pumpkin muffin into her mouth in defeat.

Satisfied, Lily smirked to herself and nudged Remus when she saw Sirius walk into the Great Hall. “Speaking of business, Remus.” Lily winked, and Remus blushed, but Marlene merely choked as Sirius sat next to Remus with a leg over each side of the bench. This made her turn back to Marlene, glaring. She wanted to know what was going on there. It was pretty obvious, but Remus was blind to it. Why hadn’t she just said something already? It made the pit of her stomach sink and turn upside down.

There wasn’t really time to sulk though as someone cleared their throat behind her. “Er, Lily?” Benjy Fenwick was stood with his hands in his pockets and a sheepish grin. The seventh year Hufflepuff prefect was usually pretty kind and Lily waved at him a bit awkwardly.

“Morning, Benjy.” 

He sat down at the Hufflepuff table with his knees towards Gryffindor and then fumbled with his hair. “I was actually just wondering if, er, if you’d like to go to Slughorn’s Halloween party together - with me - tonight.” He was stumbling over the words initially, but when she didn’t throw her juice at him or walk away, the corners of his lips curled and his confidence seemed to increase. “That is if you’re not already going with someone else?”

Well, that was unexpected. But she couldn’t deny the blush on her cheeks or the smile she was returning to him. “I’d love to.”

“You weren’t going with, er, anyone already?’

“No, no one else has asked me, even. I’ll meet you there, yeah?”

He was absolutely beaming now, running a hand through his dark curls before standing and laughing. “Brilliant! Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

When he walked out of the Great Hall, Marlene coughed loudly and elbowed her in the ribs. Lily shifted back to their table to realize James had at some point sat down right across from her. Her insides went to mush and she bit her lip, letting her hair fall into her eyes for a quick second. “Morning, Potter.”

“Morning, Evans.” He grumbled, looking absolutely miserable. “I think I’ll just wait until lunch to eat, actually, Pete. I’m suddenly without an appetite.” Then with all the dramatic flare that Sirius would’ve had, James stood and stormed off, drawing everyone’s eyes right to her.

“Lily, that was bloody cold of you.” Peter muttered a bit harshly.

Sirius frowned, leaning over Remus to put his two knuts in. “You could’ve at least done that somewhere a bit more private. He’s going to be a moody mess all day now.” And with a groan, Sirius stood, and planted a quick kiss on Remus’ cheek, which seemed to startle him, before he tore off to follow James.

She needed to break the few minutes of silence that occurred after that. “Well, he hadn’t bloody asked me! And I didn’t know he was there! It’s not like we’re anything more than friends!” Lily didn’t even finish her last chocolate frog before grabbing her bag and standing. “Thanks, everyone, for having my back.” 

Honestly, she shouldn’t be mad at them, but she couldn’t help it for some reason and had her own stomp off out of the Great Hall and towards Transfiguration. She would just deal with it all later. James probably wasn’t even going to show up to the party anyway. Even so, Lily Evans felt absolutely foul right about now.

When Remus sat down beside her at their normal table in Transfiguration, she tried not to look up from the very interesting shape of her cuticles, but he had already elbowed her twice and was threatening to transform her notebook into a cherub that would sing about her love for specky gits who talk too much and can’t comb their hair. It made her smile, so she finally looked over at him.

“Progress, then.” He grinned back at her and stuck his tongue out playfully. “So, how long have you been pining for Fenwick, then?”

“Shut up, Remus.” Lily’s face blushed. “It isn’t like anyone else was asking.”

“Considering the last few times he’s made attempts on you since you’ve become friends, you rejected him, I think he’s waiting on you.” Why did he have to be so bloody insightful all the time? It was annoying.

“Well, he could start by not shagging the rest of the school’s female Quidditch players.” She shot him a glare that revealed she knew about James’ extracurricular activities as of late. “He doesn’t exactly seem to be interested anymore.”

“And you seem to have gone daft, Evans,” he whispered as McGonagall took the front of the room, glancing around to make sure everyone was on time. “Did you really expect him to wait around for you and not succumb to his teenage male hormones?”

Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she scribbled ‘ _ is that what you’re telling yourself about Sirius?’  _ at the top of her parchment. Based on his reaction, she knew he felt the same about the idea of Sirius and someone else as she did James. He had to know, though, didn’t he? And just on queue, Sirius stumbled through the door, earning a very disdainful stare from McGonagall, before slipping into the seat beside James that he normally took. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed a bit of foreshadowing and some more great Lily/Remus/Marlene friendship as well as the Jily that was dangled in front of you a bit. Don't fret, though, not much longer. ;)
> 
> THANK YOU EVERYONE AGAIN! I've gotten so many kind words both on ao3 and tumblr (jprongsx). You all absolutely make my entire week. Seriously, the comments, kudos, and everything is amazing. I love you all.


	17. Cold Showers and Snogs With the Giant Squid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius can't control himself and eventually (finally) just tells Remus he can't be just friends - after James has a go at him and Lily threatens him within an inch of his life for being an arse.

Even cold showers weren’t working anymore. This whole taking it slow thing was absolutely killing him. Sirius couldn’t handle another eyebrow raise, snarky comment, knuckle crack, or hell, anytime Remus bit his lip or chewed the end of his quill he thought he was going to spontaneously combust. Standing over the sink, he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his shoulder-length brown hair - although in the dark it pretty much looked as black as James’. Speaking of his best mate, Sirius was pretty sure James was starting to notice that something was up with him. 

“Padfoot, if you don’t get out of this fucking bathroom in a minute, not only am I going to use your combat boot as a portable loo, I’m going to pop holes in all your bloody tea bags.”

A small smile crept across his face at James’ desperate threats. Adjusting the throbbing mass in his trousers, he opened the bathroom door and buttoned the rest of his shirt after James had shoved passed him to get into the bathroom himself. But the whole situation came flooding back as soon as he caught Remus buckling his belt with that beautiful bare chest. 

And then he was curling the corner of his lip while he turned around to grab a shirt. Sirius saw the scar across the back of his shoulder and his stomach sank. When Remus looked up again, pushing his curls out of his face, it showed off the fine white lines that his thick-rimmed glasses normally hid. “Morning, Pads.” Merlin’s sake, he was walking this way. “You alright?”

“Yep. As peachy as a bloody tart.” He snatched up his tie and bag without another look. “See you lot at breakfast.” Before anyone else can get a word in, he was already halfway down the dormitory steps.

Thank Godric that Marlene was an early riser, sat in the common room next to Lily. Her hair was pinned up lazily and it looked as though she hadn’t bothered to do her make up this morning, which meant no lipstick.

“Fizzing Whizbee,” Sirius mumbled as he passed her.

By the time he was walking through the portrait hole, she had excused herself and was following in tow. This arrangement had suited them both extremely well for quite some time now. Especially now that Marlene wasn’t seeing anyone consistently and Sirius was trying to win back Remus. Although he wasn’t spoken for, he did still feel like he was a right git for sneaking around with McKinnon behind his best mate’s back just to get some relief. Desperate times called for desperate measures, he assured himself.

He glanced backwards to see her right behind him and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the secret passageway behind Barnabas the Barby. 

“Fucking hell, Sirius. This early?”

He was already making easy work of the buttons of his shirt, working down to his belt and trousers. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Marlene followed suit, chuckling softly. “I don’t see why you don’t just tell him you’re going mad for him. It would be better than fooling around with me in broom cupboards and dark corridors. We can’t exactly keep this up.”

He reached a hand to the small of her back and pulled her against him. “Remus wants to take it slow, but I have the libido of a damn rabbit in heat.” 

She responded by kissing him harshly, running her hand up his chest. As usual, he closed his eyes and finished disposing of the rest of the clothing between them. He couldn’t count the number of times since fifth year that they had used each other for this very reason. By all means, Marlene was absolutely stunning and he did find her attractive, but she didn’t do to him what Remus Lupin did - no one did. “And what’s he going to think when he finds out about what we’re doing?”

Next thing he knew, her lips were gone from his and lightly nipping his ear and neck before she dropped to her knees in front of him. Sirius allowed himself to lean on the cold stone of the wall, thinking of Remus’ body and how, hopefully, it would be him before him soon. Even as Marlene’s well-versed lips slid across him and he let out soft moans, it was still Remus’ name on the tip of his tongue. But this was much better than a wank in the bathroom.

As soon as he was primed, Sirius panted, “Come here.” Marlene obeyed like she normally did and returned to kissing his neck and then back to his mouth. 

 

He felt absolutely vile. As he sat down in the Great Hall, smelling of sweat and cigarettes, Sirius grabbed a piece of toast before he even looked up at the other three. Peter was clearing his throat, but he ignored it in favor of filling his plate with whatever food was closest to him. Even though he was in the middle of a heated staring competition with the end of his fork, Sirius could feel Remus’ eyes on him from over the top of the Daily Prophet.

“You look rough, mate. What, did you have a snog with the giant squid or summit?” James cocked his brow, mouth stuffed with poached egg. And without even answering, they had a silent agreement between them to shut the conversation off before it even began. 

Peter was desperately trying to catch on, but no one could tap into the bond he and James had. It came from living together year-round, having similar mindsets, and generally just being best mates. 

“Wormtail, d’you do the Charms homework for today?” James nearly shouted, breaking the awkward silence that had formed between the four normally lively and boisterous, conversational quartet.

Snapping out of it, he nodded, rummaging through his bag to pull out his parchment. “Yeah. Did you not copy it last night when you borrowed it?”

“Nah, forgot to. Mind if I do it during History of Magic this morning?”

Beside him, Remus crumbled up the paper, going very red with anger. The other three turned towards him abruptly, but before anyone could speak, he chucked the Prophet into his cereal and stood. 

“What s’matter, Moony?” Sirius frowned, standing with him.

With a sharp glare, Remus wrinkled his nose and pulled his bag over his shoulder. “Just forget it, Sirius.” He reached into Sirius’ front pants pocket and pulled out his tin of tobacco and rolling papers. “If you’re so concerned, I’m sure McKinnon can explain it to you.” And then he walked off.

Sirius was left standing with his hands out, in shock and mildly turned on, but split between a horrified expression and the sinking of his stomach down to his ankles and rolling somewhere underneath the Ravenclaw table. 

“Oi, were you getting off with Marlene again?” Peter laughed, but then realized that it wasn’t a triumph. Looking over longingly at the rest of his breakfast, he resigned and stood. “I’ll go after Moony, then. See you lot in Binns’ room.”

“Outside. Now.” Whenever James got angry, it was like Euphemia Potter was staring out from behind James’ eyes. It was quite creepy at times, but for Sirius it held the same effect.

“I haven’t even eaten-”

“Starve, then.”

“Yes, Mum.”

Once outside and away from prying ears, eyes, and other bits, James wheeled Sirius around and nearly threw him into the side of the castle. “What in Merlin’s hairy third nipple is going on?” Freezing or not, Sirius’ face burned with embarrassment and regret. He couldn’t even bring himself to do anything but hang his head, but that didn’t stop James’ fist connecting with the side of his nose. “McKinnon, really?”

“Davies, really? Or should we include the rest of Ravenclaw as well?” he spat back, immediately checking for blood above his top lip and, as expected, there was. Sirius really should have anticipated it, though, considering James normally spoke with his fists first on this manner.

“Oh, fuck off.” He started rolling a cigarette, but with his fury, it was packed tightly and was nearly as thin as a toothpick. “At least I’m not sneaking about doing it and acting like the secret slag of Scotland.”

“And flaunting it before drinking yourself into a stupor for a week long bender is much better?”

“At least I admit when I’m a prat. You think you’re doing us all a favor by ‘nipping down to the kitchens for a cuppa’ and then coming back two hours later looking exhausted?”

Scoffing, Sirius puffed out his chest. “Excuse me?”

“I swear to Godric, if you and Moony don’t shag soon, I’m going to lock you in that dormitory until I can hear him howl without a fucking full moon.” The way in which his best mate said it and then just continued on with his cigarette like it was no big deal, as if he hadn’t just punched him, completely took Sirius by surprise. And his reaction must’ve gave him away completely as James simply groaned and rolled his eyes. “You’re not exactly subtle.”

“How long have you known?”

“Probably longer than you have.”

“Fuck’s sake.”

That earned him a smirk. “You’re my brother, Pads. I know you better than anyone, you giant bender, you.”

Sirius couldn’t help but laugh and then shoved him slightly, still pinching his nose to keep it from bleeding more.. “I can’t believe you’ve known this whole time and you just failed to ever mention it!”

“Why should I have to? I just figured it would either happen eventually or you’d come whining to me about unrequited love because you’re an idiot and can’t see the way he looks at you.” James pushed his glasses back up, which reminded Sirius of Remus and he shoved his palm into his forehead. Honestly, he should’ve just come to James ages ago about this.

“I’m such an arse.”

“Well, obviously. You’re only just now getting that?”

“No, Prongs. I fucked up.”

There was the signature Potter eyeroll that he hated. “Yeah, and he really didn’t need it this morning, of all mornings”

Sirius chewed his lip, avoiding James’ eyes.

“Oh, bloody hell, Sirius.” He flicked his cigarette somewhere to the side of them and went back to angry James. “You haven’t even bothered to read the Prophet lately, have you?!”

“Why should I? Moony reads it for me.” Without further adieu, he looked up just to have James’ fist connect with his cheek and the side of his nose yet again.

He looked half-raccoon by the time he wandered into Binns’ classroom, twenty minutes late and alone. James was already sat with Peter and Remus, the latter not even paying him a bit of attention as he sat down between his best mate - who had a hard right hook and currently some tender knuckles - and Remus John Lupin, the gorgeous lycanthropic siren who would forever ruin him.

“Didn’t think you could look any worse than this morning,” Remus said snidely, glasses falling down the bridge of his nose.

“Always know how to spin a compliment, Moony.” He sighed and pulled out his homework and notes. This was going to be a very awkward hour. On his other side, James didn’t even acknowledge him.  _ Very _ awkward hour, indeed.

 

Deciding just to skip dinner, Sirius had sat in the boathouse for hours now. He had acclimated to the chill of late November. On James’ backhanded advice, he’d snatched a Prophet off of some second year about an hour before. After reading it, he felt sick to his stomach. He’d been so worried about his frustration that he hadn’t worried himself enough about things outside Hogwarts. The headline ‘New Werewolf Legislation Passed’ still flashed at him from where he’d chucked the paper into the water. 

With no cigarettes left, he pulled his cloak over himself more as he stood. The walk back to the castle was going to be a pain in the arse. Really, he could just do it as Padfoot, but caution was better than warmth at the moment. It seemed that warming charms just weren’t having an effect at this point. He longed for the fire in the common room and a steaming cup of milky tea.

That last thought got him through the castle doors and most of the way back to the tower before he even thought about what would be waiting for him on the other side of the portrait hole. Angry James who’d called him a selfish cow and some much more vulgar slurs, extra sardonic Remus who had somehow figured Sirius out like he always did, and either a very confused Peter or a Peter who had spent all night dealing with the two of them to the point where he wanted to give Sirius a matching bruise on the other side of his face.

Instead he was met with a mountain of red hair, terrifying green eyes, and for someone so tiny, she grabbed his collar and dragged him to the sofa in front of the fire with all the fury and indignation of a bloody sea witch.

“Fuck’s sake, Evans!” He cowered in his seat, waiting for a slap or something.

She sat across from him, glaring. “You foul, sneaking-”

“I deserve all that and the rest, but I-”

“Shut up. I have spent the better part of the day and night struggling to keep James Potter from imploding on anyone who so much as looks toward him or Remus. Also, Marlene is extra bitchy and that shouldn’t even happen until  _ next _ week.” Lily obviously knew exactly what was going on. “And my prefect round with Remus ended in me telling him to sod off and go to bed after he found third years with alcohol in an empty classroom and politely threatened them with either handing the bottle over or giving them a week’s worth of detention and one hundred house points each!”

He couldn’t help but snort. “ _ Remus  _ said that _? _ We’re talking about the same bloke, right? About 6’2’’, blondish-brown hair, glasses, absolutely fucking gorgeous-”

“I know this is somehow your fault. And I think I’ve dealt with enough of it to put two and two together.”

“This is why I need to cut the scolding lecture short and go and speak to him.” Bloody hell, he’d really fucked things up. 

“No.” She crossed her arms. “I’ve forbidden Marlene from sneaking off with you and she told me about the whole arrangement. Are you both that hormonal but emotionally challenged that you need to get off with each other just to-”

Sirius groaned and put a hand on each of her arms. “I am a giant knobhead, should be fed in pieces to Filch’s cat over the course of a few weeks and then whatever’s left can be scattered across the bloody greenhouses. Lily, will you shut up for five minutes so I can go quit cocking everything up and do something right, for once?”

Looking a bit shocked, Lily laughed a bit and then lifted her hands in defeat. “By all means. But if I catch you whispering things to Marlene and heading for a closed door, I’ll hex your bell end to your leg with a permanent sticking charm.”

As he backed away towards the dormitory stairs, he grinned. “Such, language, Miss Evans. I do believe you’ve been spending too much time with our dear James.” With a wink he turned and cleared the steps three at a time, listening to her scoff and storm off into the girl’s dormitories.

Now he had to figure out exactly what he was going to do to rectify his most recent fuck up. He couldn’t keep tip toeing around the emotional and physical things that he felt for Remus Lupin. Especially not now. Stupid bloody gorgeous werewolves and their scars and sarcasm. Sirius buried his face in his hands and groaned. He may as well campain for git of the century because now he was going to yet again crawl into Remus’ bed and apologize and beg to be taken back. He’d lost count of the number of times that he’d needed to do this. Why did the idiot keep forgiving him?

One thing was for certain, it had to be all or nothing. Weeks of this whole ‘taking it slow’ nonsense was driving him mad and he couldn’t be next to Remus and watch his smile and see where his eyes lingered without everything else that came along with it. Determined, he kept his chin up and climbed the stairs, going straight into his trunk. It only took him a minor thirty seconds to fumble around for a small black velvet pouch.  _ Fuck it. _ Go big or jump off the top of the Astronomy Tower, right?

He drew the curtains back from Remus’ bed to find James, Peter, and Remus all sat in their pyjamas playing a game of exploding snap. There were about six chocolate wrappers beside Remus and a bottle of firewhiskey that was nearly empty near the foot of the bed.

“Alright, lads?”

“Decided to make an appearance, have you?” Peter, surprisingly, was the one that snapped at him first. This seemed to shock even James, who couldn’t contain his laughter.

“It’s alright, Pete.” Remus patted Peter on the shoulder and moved over to make room for Sirius. After a few seconds when he was still stood there awkwardly, Remus cocked an eyebrow. “Well, are you going to sit down and join us or if you’re going to stand around, you could at least bring us another bottle, yeah?”

Leave it to Remus to break the tension. James was cheering for another bottle, so Sirius let a smile escape him and went back to his trunk to quickly snag a bottle of firewhiskey. “Consider this my apology for being a massive dickhead?”

“Accepted, as usual.” 

Sirius slid onto the bed next to Remus and across from Peter. But it was James who was glaring holes into him. “You look a right twat with that giant purple bruise.”

“Yes, he’s a wonderfully dressed raccoon. Moving on, it’s your go, Prongs.” Remus pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. 

“Actually, we have to do that thing.” Peter nudged James and winked. Sirius wanted to go hide under a rock.

“ _ What _ thing?”

“ _ That _ thing.”

“Oh, blimey! That  _ thing _ !”

“Yes, let’s get to it.”

And with big sheepish grins, both of them stumbled out of the bed, graciously taking the game with them and slamming the curtains shut behind them.

“The day James Potter learns subtlety, I’ll not only eat my socks, but his too.” Remus remarked, leaning back on his pillows and looking up at Sirius with  _ those _ eyes. Was he forgiven, like, actually forgiven?

Sirius took a breath and moved a bit closer to him. “Moony, -”

“Shut up, Sirius.”

“But-”

“If you’re going to form any kind of apologies, I will hex you before you can get out two syllables.”

He looked blankly over at him, probably seeming like an idiot.

Remus just smiled. “I’m not angry.” Of course he wasn’t. “I can’t fault you considering we never set boundaries. I’m just a bit jealous and kind of hurt that you couldn’t have just said.”

“What, that I was so pent up that I could’ve rubbed off on a door frame?”

“I wouldn’t have expected anything more cultured of an explanation.” And then the corner of Remus’ lip was turning up and the smirk was so playful and mischievous, and he was probably a bit drunk by the looks of it. “Can’t say that I haven’t been.”

Sirius took a large drink of firewhiskey and then laughed nervously. “I can’t do this whole taking it slow thing anymore. It’s killing me. I  _ am _ sorry. And I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you about the whole Ministry’s Were-”

“I really don’t want to discuss  _ that _ .”

“Is that so?”

With a laugh, Remus pulled him down by his tie and kissed him hard. Sirius couldn’t help but let his hands wander into the loose curls at the back of Remus’ head, leaning into him while he focused on that soft bottom lip. 

And then the curtains were pushed aside again and Peter and James poked their heads in with awkward grins.

“Sickle,” Peter said, extending a hand out towards the messy-haired Head Boy.

“Bollocks. You couldn’t have rowed first or something?” James grumbled and dug a sickle out of his pocket and then shoved it into Peter’s waiting palm. “Bloody animals, you two.”

Remus cleared his throat from behind Sirius, a sly smirk playing across the blush in his cheeks. “Really, lads? You were betting on us?”

Nodding, Peter grinning. “James reckoned that you two would argue a bit and we’d get to hear one of those signature Padfoot-versus-Moony old-married-couple fights that we’ve gotten used to. I said you two would be snogging in a matter of minutes.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know about this?” Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned back onto Remus’ pillow. 

“Not sure. You’re both far too obvious. You stare at Remus all day until he looks over to stare at you and so on. There is just incessant pining going on.” James stuck his tongue out, teasing.

After a few more annoying one-liners, the two of them fucked off into the common room and Sirius looked up at Remus. There was a relaxed nature in him that he hadn’t seen in months. One that made his stomach flip and other parts do some very interesting things. Still, though, he didn’t really realize what any of this meant for either of them. He still had the small velvet bag in his hand, clutched between uneasy fingers. Truthfully, it was something that he’d thought about for a while and it was a bit uncharacteristic of Sirius not to just be the impulsive git that he normally was, but something about Remus just shook every part of him.

But then Remus coughed and cocked a brow at him. “Y’alright there, Pads?”

“Sorry, off in my head.”

“Isn’t that my thing?”

Shaking his head, he laughed. “Yeah, typically.” Sirius had to bit his lip before sitting up again. Reaching for Remus’ glasses, he pulled them off of his face and traced the scar across his nose again. “So, what are we then? Like, what are we doing?”

“Well, I am a teenage werewolf and you’re a blood-traitoring prat. And at the moment, we’re sitting in my bed and I’d kind of like to be kissing you again, if I’m honest,” Remus stated matter of factly. This is the Moony that drove him nuts, the deadpan, arsey Moony who was too quick-witted for his own good. 

Rolling his eyes, Sirius took Remus’ hand and put the small pouch into his palm. “I’ve meant to give this to you for ages.”

“How is it that it’s your birthday in a few hours, but you’re giving me gifts?”

“Because I’m bloody amazing, that’s why.”

Remus chuckled and turned the bag over a few times before undoing the drawstring and letting a gold ring with a black opal stone and an all-too familiar crest fall into his hands before flashing confused eyes up to him. “Sirius, I can’t - I can’t take this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. Only took 17 chapters. But, again, I grew up on Whedon, so you know it can't exactly be easy. Next chapter is James'. ;)
> 
> THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. You've all given me kind words and are all fabulous. The kudos, comments, tumblr messages, everything. It really is appreciated. I write because I love it and I'm a sucker for these idiots, but having you all back me up is fucking amazing. I love hearing what you think whether its on here or tumblr, so feel free!
> 
> Fic Tumblr: jprongsx. Main Blog: neverbeenasafebet.


	18. Rhubarb Crumble and the Brilliantly Bad Birthday Bash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James has to plan the Greatest Birthday Party Ever for his best mate's eighteenth, just it's actually Remus who accidentally gives him the idea. It checks all the boxes, though: vodka, fireworks, and a run from Mrs. Norris.

Clapping a hand to his best mate’s back, James Potter just had that look in his eye. It was the look that gave Peter a wet-your-pants-with-excitement look, Remus the half-disapproving and appropriately-coined ‘McGonagall look’, and Sirius reciprocated an identical one that they shared in mirrored admiration. Plus, he still felt bad for punching him so hard in the face the day before - even if the git deserved it.

“Padfoot, for your last birthday at Hogwarts, I have figured out the  _ perfect _ plan for tonight!” He announced, letting his glasses fall to the bridge of his nose for effect and looked between the other three.

Peter spoke first after he finished chewing on his bacon. “Go on then, y’ twat! Tell us!”

Sirius grinned with the promise of a brilliant night. James noticed that he’d only been eating breakfast with one hand this morning, the other subtly under the table brushing knuckles with Remus’. It was so adorable that he wanted to vomit. If only it hadn’t taken him getting up McKinnon’s skirt to realize that the two of them had been playing this back and forth game for far too long - even though it took James until the beginning of term to realize it, himself.

“I’m sure I can guess.” Remus broke the suspense and focused more on his tea and this morning’s  _ Prophet _ .

“Well, don’t steal my thunder, Moony.” James pushed his plate out of the way and made sure that no one else was listening in, least of all his fellow Head student and a particularly fiery ginger.

“Just spit it out, Prongs!” Sirius was growing impatient, which wasn’t much of a surprise as it was one of his essential character traits. 

“Alright, so, we know that the rubbish Slug Club party is tonight, yeah?”

“Called it,” Remus said, as if the paper was more interesting.

“Sod off!” James narrowed his eyes and slapped the paper out of his hands. “It’s your lover boy’s birthday and we need to celebrate!”

The signature Moony-brow stretched over his forehead and he folded the pages neatly. “Please, continue. My tea is getting cold just waiting on the glory of what is probably either going to be dungbombs, fireworks, bewitching some poor inanimate decoration, or near-poisoning the punch bowl with more Russian Standard than the teenage body can handle if they’re not Sirius.”

“No, you’re right!” James clapped once, and laughed. “We have to top our normal shenanigans!”

“It’s never good when you call it that. There’s always despair and detentions involved. Might I remind you that you are  _ Head Boy _ ?”

“Is that enough lecturing from the peanut gallery?”

“My apologies, Prongs the Great. Do tell us the foresighted tale of victor. I only have enough energy to warn you once or twice anyway. Beyond that I just get bored with your insolence.”

“And you enjoy a good laugh, you arse. Now shut it.” With a smirk, he thought for a minute. “How about- well, blimey, Moony. You’re right. I was going to suggest spiking the punch and transfiguring things. Fuck’s sake.”

Remus nodded and returned to reading about the latest attacks and ministry decrees. On the other hand, Sirius smirked in that way that meant he was absolutely thinking up some no good idea. The only problem was that it typically involved something dangerous and dramatic - very Sirius, which was perfect for celebrating his birthday.

“What if we crash it?” Sirius asked.

Peter frowned. “We can’t exactly crash a party that we’re already invited to.”

“No, Wormy is right.” A light went off above James’ unkempt hair and he clapped. “Screw the Slug Club. Let’s throw our own party! Invite everyone and have that be a complete wash.”

“Where would we have it?” Peter was doing that thing where he hung off of James’ every word and even though it equally annoyed James as it did boost his ego, he still wanted to slap the watery-eyed look straight off his peeky face.

“Can’t be the common room and I don’t want everyone knowing about the Room of Requirement.” James thought for a minute, furrowing his brow and mutilating his porridge, suddenly too excited to be hungry. 

“Well, it isn’t like you’re going to invite everyone down to the boat house for a bring-your-own-bottle bash and a few spliffs, so, you’d better think quickly before it’s too late to spread the word.” Remus was still behind his paper, but sometimes he was so unintentionally brilliant that James could even kiss him himself, but Sirius threw his arms around him first.

“Remus, you beautiful, brilliant bastard!” Sirius’ grey eyes were wide with what could never be considered good intentions.

“No, Moony, he’s right. That’s perfect!” James grinned and ruffled the werewolf’s hair. 

And that’s how Remus was the one who gave them the idea for the brilliantly bad birthday bash.

 

“Merlin’s sake, Wormtail! For a bloody rodent you’re heavy as fuck!”

“At least he’s not incompetent at walking in a straight line. It’s as if you’re trying to walk on your antlers, Prongs.”

“Oi, watch it, Moony, you’re the one who’s freakishly tall.”

“Oh, your words sting. Shut up and don’t walk us into a wall.”

“Remind me again why we’re going down here early to set it all up while Sirius heads to Slughorn’s party?”

“Because someone has to herd students down to the boathouse and you’re too unreliable as proven by your attempt to throttle Fenwick and blow our cover.”

“Not my fault he doesn’t deserve Evans. Dunno why she said  _ yes _ .”

“Well, you didn’t ask her, so why not?”

“I would have if she would say yes once in awhile!”

“Meaning if you weren’t too busy shagging any willing bird with a nice pair of legs while waiting on her to realize your not as much of a cock as she thinks? Oh, wait, that makes you  _ just _ as much of a cock as she thinks.”

“Well, you forgave Padfoot for shacking up with McKinnon.”

“That’s different - kinda. Plus, he’s been doing that for years. Believe me, I’ve heard all the disgusting details.”

“Gross. And what’s worse is of all of us, fucking Wormtail has the easiest luck.”

“Girls don’t expect it from him. He just looks like a genuinely nice bloke.”

“Sneaky prick.”

James pulled the cloak off of them and held his wand light out to double check no one was around. He pulled a disgruntled rat out of his jacket pocket and set him on the ground. A few seconds later, Peter was standing nose to nose with him.

“You two do realize I can  _ hear _ you when I’m Wormtail, right?” Peter brushed himself off and then rolled his eyes. Sometimes James did forget that just because Peter wasn’t talking while he was a rat didn’t mean that he couldn’t be a part of the conversation. At least he didn’t try and bite James this time.

It didn’t take long to get everything together. Remus put up a few wards that he’d researched - James’ personal favorite being one that made you completely confused if you tried to come down the stairs to the boathouse and weren’t invited. Naturally he’d taken off with the cloak to sort out the finer details, namely firewhiskey, vodka, and some stupid Scotch that Sirius pretended to like. Nevertheless, he set it all up and then conjured glasses and looked over to make sure Peter had all of the cakes from the kitchens.

“How much longer have we got, lads?” Peter sighed, pouring himself some firewhiskey and lighting the cigarette James had rolled for him. 

“Well, it’s half eight now, so like ten minutes?” Remus poked his head out of the front of the boathouse with a sly smirk, his own cigarette held between his lips.

“Blimey, I wish I could see ol’ Sluggy’s face.” James grinned and leaned against one of the windows. “Birthday bastard gets all the fun.”

“You know how much he likes overdramatics.” Peter laughed. “He’s probably giggling to himself like a first year Hufflepuff.”

“I hear voices, lads.”

And within a few minutes the boathouse began filling up with Slug Club members and other various sixth and seventh years who Sirius enjoyed the company of. They all seemed to be muttering about a nest of pixies getting loose in the Potions classroom. And right on cue, Sirius waltzed in right in the middle of it all with a stupidly proud smirk plastered across his face. 

Once he joined the other three, he cleared his throat and James couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I’d like to welcome you all to my birthday party.” There were about two dozen people piled into the packed outhouse, all whispering and looking around as if they were waiting on some massive reveal. “As the guest of honor, I only have one request for you! Drink up!”

And then there was a tap on his shoulder. James turned, exhaling smoke through his nose. There was a grumpy looking redhead with a dark-skinned boy trailing behind her. “Alright, Evans?”

“I know that was you four.” She shook her head. “All for his birthday?”

He laughed. “Would we actually need a reason, though, Lily? C’mon.”

Rolling her eyes, she snatched his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, stamping on it with her heel to put it out. “Well, we were having a good time.”

“Have a drink, Evans. Wind down some.” James winked, handed her a glass and walked off after Sirius.

 

By midnight most of the party-goers were highly inebriated - Sirius included. If he was honest, James felt a bit drunk, but he had been so concerned that Sirius was having fun, he wasn’t exactly drinking up to par. And poor Remus was constantly double checking the few wards they put up and making sure no one was lurking about. Which left the only other relatively sober person as Lily. She kept saying that as Head Girl, she couldn’t exactly get completely plastered. Something about unprofessional and a bunch of other boring nonsense that he’d just walked away after. 

Clearing his throat, James hopped up onto an overturned boat and whistled for everyone’s attention. “Alright, you lot! Thanks for ditching Sluggy’s snore-fest to come out and celebrate Sirius’ eighteenth birthday!” There were a few whoops and hear-hears, but mostly raised glasses. “At this point, we have our final entertainment for the night, which afterwards we will all sneak back into the castle while Filch and anyone that would catch us out rushes to investigate!”

Sirius climbed up onto the boat with him and pointed toward the Quidditch Pitch. “My absolutely wonderful best mate and brother-by-choice, Mr. James Ignatus Potter had so kindly given us a distraction. Let’s hear it for the Head Boy and his splendid abuse of power!” Then he took a drunken bow and toppled over clumsily. Lucky Remus had been ready for it and caught him, which saved them from falling over into a very, very drunk Peter trying to snog with Merlin-knows-who.

“And without further ado!” James waved towards the pitch as something whistled from the stands and then there was a crack. Everyone ran to the dock to watch as the entire sky lit up over the Quidditch Pitch in red and gold fireworks. 

As he jumped back down, and enjoyed a few seconds of the fruits of his labor, Marlene clapped him on the back. “Gotta hand it to you, Potter. You know how to throw a good party.” With a nod, she winked. “We’ll see you back at the Common Room!”

In groups everyone hurried their way up the stone stairs, out of the boathouse, and towards the castle. Remus seemed to be craining his neck and squinting even through his glasses. “Oi, Prongs. I think that’s Filch and Flitwick coming out. Let’s make a run for it, yeah?”

James wheeled around to see who was left. Sirius was babbling to himself and watching the fireworks. Lily was trying to pull a wobbling Benjy Fenwick out of the door - which James couldn’t help but smirk at considering the bloke couldn’t handle his alcohol. And Remus had already begun to take down the wards. 

“Where’s Pete?” Sirius yelled, looking around a bit frantic. “Bloody rodent has run off!”

“He was necking someone a few minutes ago. Cheeky bastard probably is off in a broom cupboard getting himself a shag.” Remus chuckled to himself.

“I’m going to get this idiot back to his own dormitory, Potter.” Lily groaned. “Will you and Remus be able to handle Sirius?”

“It isn’t the first time we’ve had to escort him back to bed after a night of fun.” James shook his head and Sirius was fooling with his hair in the reflection of the window.

Between himself and Remus they vanished all of the party goods and were ready to leave when they heard a meow behind them.

“Bloody hell.”

“Stupid fucking cat.”

“I’ll just change to Padfoot and chase her off!”

“No, Sirius!” James and Remus said in unison.

James grabbed his wrist in one hand and the cloak in the other. “Let’s go, dog boy, before Filch catches us down here. He’ll immediately blame us for the fireworks.”

“Mate, he probably already has.” Remus bit his lip.

“Moony, you take the birthday arsehole and get him back to the castle under the cloak. I’ll head Filch off and misdirect him.”

“You know I can’t carry him if he passes out on me. The Full is next week, I just don’t have it in me. I’ll tell him it was my rounds tonight and I heard the commotion. You take Sirius and get him back to the dormitory.”

“You’re sure?”

“Does Merlin have a beard?”

“Alright, I’ll see you back there. But hurry.”

He tossed the cloak over himself and Sirius and yanked his best mate towards the stairs at a run, with many a protest, but it worked. Once back in the castle, drunk Sirius was turning into a child and obviously the amount of alcohol he’d drank was catching up with him.

“Can you walk a bit faster, mate?”

“I don’t really think my legs are working much, if I’m honest. Heeeeey, did you re-alize that when we’re under your cloak that no one can hear us either?”

“Yes they can.” He approached the Fat Lady and uncovered them both, whispering, “Rhubarb Crumble.” The portrait swung open and James rolled his eyes as Sirius scoured around the entrance to the common room looking for desert.

The common room was deserted, luckily, as drunk Sirius could get very handsy and emotional. He was just happy they’d made it back without any issue other than his inebriated best friend trying to tell a suit of armor that it looked positively fit today. James chewed on his lip a bit as Peter, Remus, and Lily weren’t here. There’s no way that they were the first to make it back.

A twinge of jealousy hit James as he thought about Lily getting off with Fenwick, especially since he’d caught her stealing glances at him all night. He had resorted to just waiting until she finally realized what was right in front of her though. He was not going to try anything on her again. Merlin knew he’d embarrassed himself enough without continuing. His inner monologue didn’t last long though as Sirius was hurling into the ash bin in front of the fireplace.

“Blimey, Padfoot, there’s a toilet just in the dormitory.”

“Mate - I - Can’t - Fucking hell - help - it!” Sirius coughed out between vomiting spells. 

“Yeah, happy birthday.” He rolled his eyes and pulled the map out of his pocket. Lily was nearly back to Gryffindor Tower, but Remus was just getting to the Entrance Hall. 

Right on cue, Lily slipped through the portrait hole and immediately found James’ stare. He drank in the exchange for a few seconds before Sirius interrupted it with more dying giraffe noises. “I see you made it back with Captain Caterwauling.”

“You heard his singing in the corridors then?” James snickered.

“I think the entire bloody castle heard it.” She glanced over at Sirius, who was looking as though he had no recollection of the events. “REO Speedwagon? Really, Sirius?”

“He’s been known for a good power ballad after a few too many. Can you help me get him upstairs?” James crossed the common room towards him and stood over his best mate, rolling his eyes.

“How is it that you ended up with him and not Remus?”

“Bad luck?” Laughing James lifted Sirius up by his armpits with minor slurred protest as Lily ducked under one of his arms so she could pull the other over her shoulders. “Alright, Pads, we need a bit of help here.”

Attempting to get Sirius Black back to the dormitory was comical. About six stairs up he leaned forward and threw up on James’ shoes. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Once they dragged him through the door, he started laughing hysterically and uncontrollably. “Nice that you find this whole ordeal amusing.” And putting him in his own bed had involved him spewing the remaining contents onto his duvet. There were a lot of apologies at that point, but James simply said, “Fuck it.” 

“I kinda feel bad just leaving him lying on the toilet floor like that, though.” Lily wrinkled her nose, sitting on the edge of James’ bed.

“Isn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Plus, I’m not cleaning up another pile of his sick and I can’t with good conscience put him in Remus’.” He stretched and groaned, far too sober for his own liking. “I wonder where Pete and Remus are. Strange.”

“I think Peter went off with a girl after the party.” She pulled an elastic from her wrist and flipped her hair up into a messy, but somehow extremely attractive bun at the back of her neck. “But, fair dues. Tonight’s shenanigans were actually fun.”

James pulled off his sweater and folded up his glasses. “Lily Evans, are you complimenting me?” He straightened up his white t shirt and pulled the belt off of his jeans before falling back onto his bed and yawning. 

“I might be.” She rolled her eyes before leaning on her elbow next to him, resting her cheek in her palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a blast to write, needless to say. Comments, kudos, and the lot are genuinely appreciated and totally make my day! Also, feel free to find me on tumblr as well: jprongsx!


	19. Confunded Bludgers and the Slag of Stockport

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Sirius try to sneak in a snog, Regulus spots the Black family ring, and Padfoot tears up someones homework.

“Sirius, I really need to get back to my rounds.” He was exasperated and would be pretty damn dead if he was caught snogging his - whatever they were in the trophy room when he was supposed to be ensuring students were in bed and not out gallivanting about the castle. 

He could feel his smile as he spoke and it was driving him mad. “Shut up, Moony. I can’t get a bloody wink in towards you without girly nonsense noises from the specky twat and his sidekick.”

Remus snorted and allowed himself to be pushed into the trophy case behind him. “You’ve got another two minutes and then you need to go. Otherwise I’ll be forced to lock you to your bed with a set of darbies.”

“Merlin, Moony. You can cuff me up anytime you’d like!” And then his lips were back, soft and expert in making Remus’ knees go far too weak to say no. Bugger his knees though, his trousers were so tight that he was afraid it would burst the zipper soon. They honestly needed to get more than a few handjobs in random broom closets or late at night with silencing charms. 

“Okay, you need to go before  _ things _ happen.” Remus pushed Sirius off of him and tried to sound firm.

“Things have already happened, love.” Fucks sake,  _ that smile _ .

Another five minutes of moaning through each other’s open mouths and Sirius’ fucking amazing tongue sliding against his upper lip. Just him needing to stand on his toes to kiss him like this was enough to send Remus over the edge. But he didn’t have to push him off again as they could hear voices and both of them immediately reached for the cloak that Sirius had nicked to meet him on his prefect rounds.

With a smirk, Sirius disappeared and Remus ruffled his hair before walking towards the scuffling and voices. It didn’t take him long to find the bodies that went along with all of it. Go figure, it was always the  _ other  _ Black that he ran into nearly every time he was on duty. It was like he was a magnet for their bloodline or something. 

Clearing his throat, he straightened himself up, hoping that he didn’t look to disheveled. “Black! Mulciber! I’m sure you realize it’s after hours and that you’re to be in your common room and not meandering about the castle like a couple of confunded bludgers, yeah?”

Regulus turned around first, looking a bit too smug with the fact that if they had to be caught, it was by him. “What’s the matter, Lupin? Your mates aren’t around to hide behind. Last time it was two-on-one, you ended up in the hospital wing.”

“As usual, your sad excuse for humor fails to impress. Twenty points each for Slytherin and either start walking to the dungeons or I’ll let you explain to Mr. Filch why you decided the trophy hall was a brilliant place to be past midnight.” Remus nodded to the fluffy brown cat that had wandered it. 

Instead of heading off, though, Regulus stepped toward Remus while Mulciber chuckled to himself. “By the time that mangy thing gets back to Filch, you’ll already be unconscious and -” He stopped, tilting his head slightly, in a much more poised manner than Sirius would have, and focused his eye on something before charging at him and gripping what was hanging off of the chain around Remus’ neck.

A sick feeling spread through him because without even looking down at what had peaked his attention. There was an ornate golden ring attached to a thin chain, the same one that Sirius had given him at the beginning of November. Not wanting to actually wear a Black family heirloom - and it was gaudy as anything - Remus had opted to just tuck it into his robes, only he hadn’t anticipated it falling out during a heavy petting session. 

“This doesn’t belong to you.” Regulus’ smirk turned into a near-violent glare and he was a bit too close to Remus’ face for comfort. The saving grace was that, like his older brother, he definitely lacked any height advantage to Remus. Points for lycanthropy there. “Where did you get this?” He was getting louder now, angry.

“I’m sure if you use what’s in that thick skull of yours, you can come up with a halfway decent hypothesis as to where.” Remus pushed back, and snatched the ring from Regulus, stuffing it back into his shirt. “Another twenty points from Slytherin for putting your hands on me,  _ Black _ .”

Regulus’ face began going red as he drew his wand and spat. “You don’t have any right to have that with your muggle mother and your affinity for blood traitors.” From behind him, Mulciber drew his wand as well, taking cues from Sirius’ younger brother. It reminded him a bit of Peter, sadly.

“This is your last chance, Regulus. You need to go back to your common room.” Remus gripped his own wand, raising it merely as a matter of caution. He knew that neither of the Slytherins in front of him were adverse to hexing a prefect. 

Surprisingly, it was Mulciber who attempted to curse Remus first and he cast a protection spell as nonchalantly as he would raise his hand to an acquaintance. “ _ Fifty _ points from Slytherin. Expelliarmus!” He caught Mulciber’s wand in his hand and held it just over his shoulder. “Just because you have those fresh tattoos on your forearms doesn’t mean you can go around cursing anyone you fancy to. You can see Professor McGonagall for your detention schedule.”

“In a few months, house points and detentions won’t matter,” The thick blonde boy narrowed his eyes, approaching Remus to snatch his wand back.

“Considering the rate you’re going, tonight alone, you’ll be expelled. I’d say that’s a fair assumption.” Instead of handing his wand back, he chucked it atop the trophy cabinet opposite them. Honestly, Remus wasn’t in the mood for all of this nonsense. 

No sooner did he go to walk off did Regulus push his wand at Remus’ neck. “How dare you-”

“Hey, Reg,” Sirius said, coming from behind his brother and pulling him by the shoulder before Remus could even get a word in otherwise. Remus hadn’t even heard his combat boots clomping in with all the tension in the room. He must have been waiting around to see who was lurking about before leaving Remus on his own. “You should learn when to shut the fuck up.” And then he landed a solid right hook directly into Regulus’ nose. 

Rolling his eyes, Remus disarmed Regulus as well and chucked his wand with Muliber’s. He looked absolutely enraged and went for Sirius with his bare hands,  _ like a muggle _ . “You filthy, dishonorable-”

“Godric, Regulus, you sound like Mother. Do yourself a favor and grow some hair down there before trying to pick on someone who could take you on blindfolded. Consider yourself lucky that I caught you before you did something stupid, tosspot.” Sirius simply rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles, daring Regulus to retaliate.

While both Black brothers made angry eyes at each other, Remus caught Mulciber out of the corner of his eye and ducked a fist before swinging his wand around and stunning him. “C’mon, Sirius, we’ll leave these two to deal with Filch. I can hear him clamoring about in the corridor.”

 

By the time they got back to Gryffindor Tower, Remus was resigned to the fact that he would just skive off the last twenty minutes of his rounds and go up to bed. He couldn’t exactly trust Sirius not to double back. Any excuse to have a go at Regulus seemed to set Sirius off ever since Marlene had told them about what she’d seen on the train. It made them all sick to think about, but anyone could see that it unnerved Sirius to no avail. 

The Fat Lady gave them both a very over-exaggerated wink as they slipped back through the portrait hole. Once back in the common room, Remus’ expression dropped more than it already was at the sight of all the Christmas decorations. He frowned and flicked the holly berries off of a piece of garland that was draped over the mantle. He didn’t want to think about Christmas, let alone talk about it. The holidays weren’t exactly going to go swimmingly for him.

Always perceptive with things like this, Sirius put an arm around his shoulder and planted a kiss before changing into Padfoot and romping around the common room like an idiot. The site of a shaggy black dog jumping on the furniture, viciously shaking the cushions and tearing up some poor sod’s History of Magic homework was absolutely hysterical - no matter how hard he tried to contain his laughter. Tail wagging and obviously having far too much fun with it all, as soon as the mutt noticed Remus failing miserably at holding back a smile, he leapt on top of him, knocking him over.

“Aw, Padfoot, c’mon!” He put his hands up to shield the sopping, wet tongue from licking all over his face. “Someone could see you!”

And without further ado, the dog morphed back into a very attractive seventh year with shiny dark brown hair and a wickedly raised brow. “What’s the matter, Moony? Jealous that you don’t have an excuse to tear up Hestia Jones’ essay?” After giving him a judgemental look, Sirius barked out a laugh and grinned. “You snogged her at the beginning of the sixth year. This is my revenge.”

“You’re such a knob.” He grabbed him by his collar, pulling him down for a kiss. “But it was a lot more than snogging.” And with a wink, Remus accepted a swift dig to his left arm.

“I knew it!” Sirius huffed, pretending to be all offended. “I bet she was rubbish at sucking a bloke off.” 

“Just a bit.” He stuck his tongue out and then caught Sirius’ lips. “But, that’s what I have you for now.” Checking again to make sure the common room was still totally empty, Remus pulled off his glasses and set them beside the fire. “Care to remind me how bloody lucky I am?” He took the hard kiss and rough pull on his hair as a yes and slid his tongue into the kiss, getting him to part his lips more. 

Sirius grinned into his mouth, something that drove Remus completely mad. “I love it when you’re dirty. It’s so nice to be reminded that you’re not always a stuffy prefect who enjoys musty books and annoying rules.”

“Oi!”

“Shut up and kiss me more.”

And so he did. Sirius’ lips were rough in all the right places from the amount he chewed on them during the day and the dry air from the fire. His hands slipped under Remus’ shirt and found the trail of hair that made it’s way beneath his trousers. Remus couldn’t help the small moan that escaped him when Sirius moved to bite his neck and unbutton his trousers at the same time. 

It could’ve been quite romantic if James didn’t clear his throat while standing over them. “You know, as a prefect, I honestly expected better of you, Moony.” With a wink, he nudged Sirius’ arse with the toe of his trainer before bursting out laughing. “The two of you were actually going to shag on the bloody common room floor!”

“Piss off, Prongs!” Sirius buried his face into Remus’ chest, groaning in frustration.

Not being able to contain his laughter, Remus threw his head back against the hearth rug and shook with silent snickers. “He’s just working out some issues.” Normally he could keep himself together in situations like this, but Sirius’ hand was still in compromising places and it was just too awkward to do much else. 

“I knew you two were bent, but really, we still expect the same level of decency as we do from anyone. Broom cupboards and empty classrooms, for fuck’s sake!” Peter shook his head with a smirk the side of a dinner plate beaming down at them.

Remus pushed Sirius off of him and pulled himself up with the armchair beside them. “This coming from the fucking Slag of Stockport.”

“Oi!” Peter laughed, his cheeks and the tip of his nose turning red. “Me Dad is from Stockport, but we live in bloody Sunderland!”

“Pete, that doesn’t make it any better, mate.” James clapped him on the back and then pulled Sirius to his feet. “C’mon you lot, we need to start planning something to disrupt the last day of term for everyone.”

“Why, so you lot can fuck off and leave me to deal with the repercussions and sideways glances?” Remus raised a brow and gave James a light shove before walking towards the dormitory stairs.

“What d’you mean, Moony?” Peter asked, following him.

Ah, the conversation he’d been avoiding for weeks. He was the first through the threshold of the dormitory and flopped onto his own bed. It didn’t take more than a minute before they were all piled onto the single four poster as well. He declined to make any comment about the fact that most likely Sirius still had just as much of a semi as he did. It wouldn’t make them leave, so there was no point in bringing it up.

Just as he layed back against his pillow, Sirius laid his head on Remus’ stomach. “I think he’s trying to being a Scrooge and assume we’d actually leave him here alone for Christmas on the full moon.”

A mop of messy black hair cuddled into his shoulder and James grinned, fixing his glasses. “Blimey, you actually think we’d abandon you and cheat you out of the annual Marauders’ New Year’s Eve Party?” He apparently didn’t approve of Remus’ eye roll. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice, Remus John Lupin. We have plans.”

“Plans?” He laughed, tried to contain as much of his ear-to-ear grin as he possibly could. It wasn’t fair of him to keep them all here over the holidays. “I’m shaking in my stylish, yet affordable boots.” After only Peter laughed and James and Sirius remained staring at him with less than mild amusement, he let himself actually smile. “You lot are really going to stay?”

“What the fuck else are we going to do?” James shrugged, starting to roll a cigarette.

“To be honest, I think Mr. and Mrs. P were a bit relieved that they weren’t going to have us stampeding about the house when they’re trying to entertain their elderly guests.” Sirius winked up a James, who punched him in the thigh.

“No, they’ll be glad that they can invite Agatha and Clive over without you making eyes at them and making them uncomfortable.” James corrected him, which made the entire group of them roll with laughter.

  
It was the best Christmas he ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this one being late. Life happens.
> 
> But THANK YOU ALL! You're lovely and wonderful and so supportive. The comments, kudos, reblogs on tumblr, ect are SO FLIPPING APPRECIATED. 
> 
> But, as much as I love you all, you've had a few too many light-hearted chapters in a row. ;)


	20. Charm Bracelets and the Skiing Holiday From Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over Christmas holidays Lily goes to a popular resort with the McKinnons, but through gorgeous ski instructors and other excitement, all she can think about is James Potter.

There were only so many bloody mountains one could look at before becoming absolutely bored to bloody tears in the French Alps. Skiing Holiday, her arse. More like Mr. and Mrs. McKinnon drink brandy in the lodge’s pub while Marlene drowns herself in firewhiskey and flirts with anything that has two legs and shoots a smile towards her. Meanwhile Lily, who had only agreed on this venture because she thought it would take her mind off the more depressing aspects of Christmas, so far, had spent the last week and a half sat in the room she shared with Marlene catching up on essays and thanking Circe she’d thought to bring some of her muggle books. 

Today the entire McKinnon brood was actually taking to the slopes, though. Mr. McKinnon seemed half drunk already and Mrs. McKinnon was wearing giant sunglasses along with her skiing ensemble. Almost positive that her left leg was going to fall off from the impressive tumble she’d taken down the beginner’s slope, Lily was sat against a tree with her skiing goggles over her winter hat and her rented skis next to her. She’d seen quite a few Hogwarts students here with their families already ski straight passed her.

As her best friend came flying over, she sprayed powdery snow on her like an avalanche, making Lily unable to help herself in flicking her wand in Marlene’s general direction. Served her right for dragging Lily halfway across Europe to participate in an activity that she was absolutely dreadful in and indirectly giving her frostbite in all extremities. What made it all the better was the bloke showing off that didn’t see Marlene wipe out in front of him until he went head over skis and face first right over her.

“Bollocks!” Lily Evans jumped up and waddled through the inches of snow as quickly as she could, yelling apologies over toward whoever had the poor misfortune of unknowingly falling for Marlene McKinnon. 

Laughing in her usual infectious and overly flirty manner, Marlene beamed to the boy and then winked at Lily. “I am so sorry, love. I’m just really clumsy.” She really wasn’t clumsy, actually. She was bloody graceful on more than just her feet.

“No, it’s my fault!” Lily reached them, slightly out of breath and narrowly avoiding being knocked over by a family of four.

“Nonsense! It is my pleasure!” When he pushed his goggles up, she nearly fainted at his eyes alone. Add that to the fact that he looked like he came straight off of a Witch Weekly cover and Lily felt herself swallow down into the pit of her stomach. 

Marlene grabbed his hand as he extended it, letting him pull her up. “Lily, this is Jaques! His family owns the resort.”

As the two of them rambled back and forth, Lily just stared in stunned awe and wondered why in all hell Marlene would hide the fact that she knew there was this fine specimen of a man here? And that he lived at the lodge? 

James  _ who _ ? Yeah, as if. Regardless, she couldn’t help the smile creeping across her face - even if the name was a coincidence. 

A couple hours later, Lily was sat with the remainder of a bottle of mulled wine. Jaques was telling her about growing up at the resort as his parents owned the whole thing. She hadn’t exactly been paying much attention, nor had she realized that he had been scooting closer and closer to her by the fire. Instead, she was too busy staring at the charm bracelet around her wrist.

 

_ “Lily!” A voice yelled from somewhere behind her on the Hogsmeade platform. Without even turning around, she knew exactly who it was. _

_ Trying to hide her smile, Lily spun around just in time for James to wrap her into a suffocating bear hug and lift her slightly off the ground before spinning her. “Alright, Ging?” _

_ Not able to contain her laughter behind annoyance, she hugged him back. “What’s the matter, Potter? Going to miss me that much?” _

_ There really wasn’t anything like a hug from James Potter. He always seemed to put everything into wrapping his arms around someone. Lily could feel him smiling against her neck. “Who else is going to scold me for just about everything I do?” _

_ As he set her feet back on the ground, she pulled back a bit and raised a brow. “I think McGonagall has that bit covered, yeah?” _

_ Through a laugh, James rolled his eyes and slipped a package into her bag. “Minnie just hasn’t ever had the effect that you do,  Evans.” He backed up and pointed at her bag. “Now, I’ll know if you opened that early. See you in a few weeks.” _

_ “She’s going to hear you call her that one of these days and then you’re in for it.” _

_ “Absolutely. I’m sure it will be the highlight of my Hogwarts education.” James winked and nodded again at the bag. _

_ “Alright, I won’t bloody open it. I’ve got to go.” The train whistled behind her and she squeezed his hand tightly before turning and heading toward the train. _

 

Fooling with the charm bracelet between her fingers, she pulled it in circles around her wrist without thinking. So maybe Jacques wasn’t enough to get James off her mind entirely. Snapped back to reality by an arm draping around her shoulders, Lily’s cheeks went red.

“That’s why I enjoy when zee McKinnons stay. They, uh, never judge my family over blood status.”

Lily cleared her throat and sat up straight. “Oh, right. Marlene said your Mum is muggleborn as well. Do people give you much of a hard time about it?”

Jacques laughed. “Where is your ‘ead, Lily Evans?”

“I’m sorry, really. I’m not too sure.” Trying to avoid the awkwardness, she wondered if Marlene was close. Of course she was, but she had her tongue shoved down the throat of the olive-skinned ski instructor from this morning. It was all a ploy that had worked, as Marlene had been coming to the resort for years and could ski brilliantly. 

“It is alright.” Yet, he was still sat as close to her as possible without sitting in her lap. “But, that boy is not ‘ere, no?” 

“Really, there is no boy, Jacques.”

“I can tell there is, but I do not mind. I am uzed to it.”

At that, Lily downed the last of her bottle. Okay, so she had been thinking about James Potter when right next to her, Jacques Delacour was taking his arm away to begin rolling a cigarette.  _ Damn it _ . She hated that he smoked. She hated that James smoked. But it was this half-drunk attraction to the James Dean, John Lennon, fake-bad-boy-with-great-hair-and-a-stupid-crooked-smile look that got her every time. 

He was only three drags into his cigarette when Lily lost her resolve. She wasn’t sure what he was even chattering on about anymore because like a magnetic pull, as he smiled, she felt her lips inches from his.

Who closed the gap between them didn’t really matter as much as the fact that he’d flicked his cigarette into the fire and then his tan, callused hands were in her hair. Lily slid a hand up his chest and hadn’t actually considered that skiing could have that effect on one’s abs. It was a hazy kiss and anything but delicate. 

The fog of a good snog was broken merely moments after it set, though, as that’s when the screaming began.

Immediately they broke apart and Jacques had pulled his wand out as quickly as Lily. “Stay here, Lily. I’ll go see what’s going on.”

She stood against his orders, seeing lights dancing and flashing from the windows. “Like hell am I staying.”

Just then Marlene and Ski Instructor Guy rushed back into the front room. “Lily!” Her best friend thrust her arms around her. “Lily, they’re  _ here _ .”

“Who? Who’s here?”

“The people in the black cloaks, the ones that the papers have mentioned!”

With a look exchanged between the two of them, they took off out of the cabin at a run. Jacques and Ski Instructor Guy were trailing behind. Once they pushed through the door and rounded the corner, trudging as fast as they could through the snow, that’s when the full extent of whatever this was hit Lily. Many of the cabins were ablaze and there were some people dueling and others running.

“Oh, Circe.” Lily’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t let any sort of fear set in. Before Jacques could tell her to stay back again, Lily was running, wand pointed right for the middle of it all, Marlene a few paces behind her. “We have to help them!”

In a few seconds, Lily was casting a protection charm as someone in a black robe and an animal skull mask walked towards them. Purple sparks came from the end of their wand, but hit Lily’s protection shield and ricocheted off towards the woods. 

From beside her, Marlene shouted, “Stupefy!”

It was an absolute whirlwind. As her spells connected with others, great reactions of light and sound exploded and knocked them back. She was sure that they stepped over blood-soaked snow and were some of the few left trying to fend off their attackers. Jacques was yelling something towards a group of children to take cover in the woods and was faring well to shield them. Marlene’s father was dueling a particularly nasty looking wizard who’s hood had fallen down. The speed of the whole thing was rigorous and it was obvious where Marlene gained her talent.

As if a mirror image, Marlene jumped between her and another figure, dodging and throwing off every jinx and curse she knew. Somehow, she managed to stay graceful through the entire duel - Lily would’ve probably looked like spasmodic bowtruckle. 

On the other hand, she was running towards one of the cabins where she could hear screams. “Hold on!” Covering her face with her sleeve, she threw open the door and darted in. “Hello!? Where are you?” 

The flames licked at her and she could feel the ends of her long hair singing, but she pushed through, blocking as much of it with anything could could think of. Finally, huddled in a bedroom was a woman and a small girl of about twelve or thirteen. “Cover your eyes!” Turning to the window, she pointed her wand, “Bombarda!” The glass shattered and took part of the wall with it. “Here, take my hand, I’ll help you out!”

The dark-skinned woman stood with Lily’s help, coughing and clutching her daughter to her side. “Thank you, Merlin, thank you.” 

“Lily Evans?” The small girl asked. She recognized her as a second year girl, possibly in Ravenclaw. Her face was covered in soot and ash, but it was definitely her.

“Yes.” She gave her a small smile before rushing her and her mother out of the building. “Please, just run. Get to Hogwarts or the Ministry if you can, find help!” And then they were running for the woods, to the end of the apparation barrier and then were gone.

The next cabin wasn’t as easy. She could see a child on the second floor, banging on the window. Her eyes locked with the boy’s and she broke the glass to the kitchen window, climbing through and over the counter. The fire was a lot worse here. She threw water charms from her wand and made her way up the stairs. The other bedroom was engulfed in flames, but the second bedroom door gave way and Lily threw herself into it. 

The small boy ran to her and she picked him up. He couldn’t have been more than three or four years old. He clung to her, struggling to breathe and she tried to use her shoulder to block him from the fire. 

Once outside, she didn’t let him down - not that he was letting go with his little fingers in her jacket and his Puddlemere United pajamas blackened from the smoke. He screamed for his mother and she bit back tears. Someone in a long flowing black robe was approaching her, wand out.

“Are you barking mad, you lot? These are children! Families!” The anger within her voice made the boy cower into her chest more and she slashed her wand through the air, the light from her disarming spell connecting with a dark red light from her opponents. 

“Bad blood gets what it deserves, love.” That voice. She knew that voice as it was as privileged as it was arrogant.  _ Lucius Malfoy _ . 

“You’re still as thick as you always have been.” Lily tightened her grip on her wand and she won out. Malfoy’s wand flung towards her and she caught it. His mask fell backwards with his hood momentarily and the look of shock was the best satisfaction.

“ _ Mudblood _ .” He growled and charged towards her, but was knocked to his feet by a large man in a shabby trenchcoat.

“How dare you call  _ anyone _ that!” The man with long, curly brown hair sounded like a bear and had a similar stature. “That’s right, run! Run back to your bloody awful -” He was cut off yelling at Malfoy when someone else send a hex hurling their way. Chucking Malfoy’s wand, Lily raised her own, blocking the hex and knocking the figure off of their feet. 

Two others joined them, out of breath and wands at the ready. 

“Lily?!” The first squeaked.

She recognized them instantly. Dorcas and Alice had been older, but always so nice. Alice ran to her and then took the small child.

“Alice, bloody hell! What are you doing here?”

“Moody, is Evans in The Order as well?” Dorcas smirked, hugging her quickly before darting off towards where most of the action was taking place. 

“Meadows! Secrecy is the rule for a reason!” The man, who must’ve been Moody, barked. Then he turned to Alice. “Take the child to the others and come right back.”

“What’s happening?”

“A damned war, that’s what.” Moody approached her, as if sizing her up. “You alright with a wand, er, Evans, is it?”

Nodding, she smiled softly before blocking another curse from hitting them both. “Top of my bloody class, so I’d say so.”

“Good. Then follow Meadows and-” 

That’s when the sky erupted into an eery green. Suddenly the clouds parted and formed a skull with what looked like a snake coming out of it’s mouth.

“He’s here.” Moody whispered and ran in that direction.

Not knowing what else to do, Lily followed. People were still sending spells in every direction. It was all she could do to run to where she spotted a blur of blonde hair dodging a stray curse from hitting her. “Alright, Marls?”

“Fuck, Lily, I was worried when I didn’t see you anymore.”

Both of the ducked what looked dangerously like an unforgivable and then cast their own spells in opposite directions, backs to each other.

“Where have you been?”

“You know, saving babies from burning buildings.”

She could feel Marlene laughing as she shouted hex after jinx after stunning spell. “You’ve been hanging around Potter too much.”

Lily allowed herself to think of James for a moment and that’s when it hit her. She felt her entire body tense up and she hit the cold snow on her side. Hands gripped at her shoulders and Marlene was blurry above her. Someone else, Dorcas maybe, was stood in front of them, casting off spells faster than Lily could follow. Marlene shook her shoulders more and she started to come to.

“Lily! For fuck’s sake!” Marlene yanked her up once she fully opened her eyes.

Shaky on her feet, she realized she must’ve been stunned. That had to have been it. Reflexes a bit slower, she breathed deep and then as Marlene sent a wave of blue from the end of her wand, Lily held it out and thought  _ Protego Maxima _ .

“Bloody hell, Evans!” Dorcas yelled.

Marlene kept an arm under her to keep up upright and laughed. “Merlin, Lils, you knocked them backwards!” The shield, which Lily concentrated to hold was enough for the dozen and a half witches and wizards to regroup.

Moody trudged towards them. “Meadows, good work.”

“That wasn’t me, sir.” She smirked and nodded to Lily. “Evans is brilliant at Charms. Always has been.”

The bear-shaped man gave her a nod as well, in acknowledgement, before coughing. “Get these two to Aberforth. Students shouldn’t be here, especially since the apparation barrier seems to have been broken.”

Dorcas held out her hand as Marlene and Lily both gripped on.  _ Crack _ .

Before she even registered what was actually happening, she was surrounded by long tables and the strong smell of ale. She had just let go of Dorcas’ hand when she could hear barstools scrape the floor and footsteps.

“Lily!” A familiar voice yelled from behind her. As she turned, James Potter was throwing his arms around her. She sunk into his chest, gripping onto his shirt, which felt wet and warm.

Really, she wanted to just collapse into him, but instead she looked up and gasped. Through his grin of relief, she noted the dried blood around his forehead and down his neck. Lily pushed him off of her a bit to find that he had patches of it all over him. “James, what happened to you?”

“I could say the same.” He forced a laugh and pushed her hair away from her face. 

Dorcas patted him on the shoulder. “She was brilliant.” With a wink, she walked over to greet a few others.

“These absolute nobheads have been attacking all over tonight. Seemed to go after Muggleborn-owned businesses and the lot. We, er, found out they were in Hogsmeade and-” He started.

“James - “ Lily tried to cut in, but he kept going. She didn’t even care at this rate and if anything worse had happened, she would’ve regretted never bothering. 

“ - and then Remus hit one with this bloody awful - “

“James!” She nearly shouted and this time didn’t wait for him to shut up. Instead she pulled him down by his collar and just went for it, kissing him hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next three chapters all take place at the same time at this one, just from different perspectives. It isn't exactly how McGonagall had anticipated introducing them to the Order of the Pheonix. 
> 
> Thank you all again for being so positive and giving me tons of love on AOBM. It means a lot! And, as always, feel free to find me on tumblr: jprongsx (or my main blog is now prongsquake).


	21. Hippogriff Pants and the Fourth Floor Conundrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is off with the fourth floor section on the map. Sirius should really put pants on. War brings out the worst in family.

“Oi, Pads, have a look at this, will you? ”

Sirius looked up from his Charms book and popped his head out of the curtains on his bed. “Yeah?” His best mate was stood in his signature blue bathrobe, red and gold striped socks, a black t shirt, and some absolutely awful plaid pants. James had absolutely no concept of the term ‘matching’. It always gave him a laugh. Either way, he pushed the curtain to the side to let James sit on the edge of his bed.

James sat down and laid the map out, scratching the back of his neck. “I was messing about with the bit on the fourth floor that keeps disappearing and I got it to work.”

“Nice one, James. Let’s see it.”

Frowning, James flattened out the flap with the third floor corridor that had been tricky since September and pointed. “At first I only saw Mulciber and I didn’t remember him being here for Christmas tea, so I was going to throw the cloak on and have a look - “

“In that?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why not? I’d be under the bloody cloak, wouldn’t I?”

“You look like an overgrown firstie, mate. Put some trousers on before you leave the Tower.”

“Shut up, Sirius.”

“I’m only saying.”

Peter’s curtains flung open and he whipped his head around. “The two of you realize some of us are actually trying to fucking have a kip here, right?”

“Apparently a handful of Slytherins do not, Pete, so c’mere.” James whispered. 

Sirius cocked his head and leaned over the map as Peter stumbled out of bed in his striped pajama set. “Mate, you said Mulciber…” He moved over so Peter could join them.

“There’s a least a dozen Slytherins. There weren’t even that many left after term. They couldn’t have all come back early.” Peter looked down at the map and then smirked. “That’s the point. They’re the reason - “

“That the map has been acting up - “

“I told you lot someone was fucking with it.” Remus had at some point crawled out from under his covers and made his way to Sirius’ bed. He slid up from the other side and gave Sirius a quick peck on the cheek before sliding his glasses on. “What are they all doing?”

James pouted and then Remus rolled his eyes and gave James a mock peck on the cheek as well. “Well, I’ve been watching them for about twenty minutes and I’ll they’ve done is stand around.”

Sirius frowned and stood. “We’re not going to figure anything out like this.” He put a hand on his hips, grabbed his wand from the table, and then only realized his lack of clothing when he noticed that there were no pockets. “And I’ll make the suggestion to myself to put on more than just pants.”

“I think the suggestion would be prudent.” Peter snorted. “Plus, you look about as commanding as a pygmy puff in your hippogriff pants.”

“I quite like his hippogriff pants.” Remus chided.

“Shut up, Moony,” James and Peter groaned before both standing.

“Anyway, Sirius’ arse aside, what’s the plan?”

 

The Plan was great until James, Sirius, and Remus were squished together behind a tapestry watching as Wormtail scuttled across the fourth floor towards where a dozen older Slytherins were bickering and pointing at each other in all black robes with the hoods up. Ironically, the fourth floor was acting wonky again on the map.

“What’s taking him so long?” James whispered, annoyed.

“I don’t know. Is Regulus with them?” Sirius craned his neck around James, trying to peek out of the tapestry.  

“Can’t tell.” 

They both looked over at Remus, who was studying the map. “Filch is coming this way and McGonagall is heading towards the Entrance Hall.”

“Fuck’s sake, Wormtail.” Sirius groaned and balled his fists, but then the rat was climbing up the leg of his trousers and onto the other side of Remus.

He changed back into Peter, panting. “They’re arguing over something involving Hogsmeade and someone didn’t get something they were supposed to from the Room of Requirement.”

“Is Regulus - “

“Yeah, Pads, he’s with them. The whole bloody lot.”

“I told you he was on the ruddy map, Sirius. The map never lies.” Remus rolled his eyes.

With a worried look, Sirius bit his lip. “I was hoping we’d messed something up. What are they planning for Hogsmeade?”

James leaned in, “Alright, new plan. Peter, change back and you tail them. Sirius, you take the cloak and stay close. Remus, you and I will go find McGonagall with the map.”

“Head Boy and a Prefect won’t seem out of place this late. Good plan, Prongs.” Remus agreed.

Peter took a deep breath and looked at Sirius. “Can you keep your head?”

“I’m not that much of an idiot, you’re the one who - “

James nudged him, shoving the cloak in his arms. “Enough, Padfoot. You’ll be fine.” 

Looking over at Remus, Sirius bit his lip. He gave him a nod and a weak smile from under the curls of sandy hair and Sirius returned it. Wormtail was already running alongside the wall after the dozen Slytherin students as they were rounding the corridor, cueing for Sirius to go as well. James gripped his shoulder before Sirius threw the cloak over himself. 

They had been spending more time than Sirius would’ve liked to admit following the likes of the idiots who were being overly suspicious and all happened to come from families spouting all of that pureblood propaganda. Sirius left James and Remus to head towards whatever it was they were getting up to. Naturally it would be him that was left to sit and stay quiet, just watching - his least favorite thing to do. He prefered to be the distraction and cause a bit of havoc, not keep his mouth shut and behave. Then again, McGonagall had told him if he pulled another stunt like lighting ol’ Sluggy’s curtains on fire or giving Filch’s mangy feline a a hiccuping potion that he would find himself on the other side of that line he enjoyed toeing. 

Getting close to them as they were fooling with their wands, Sirius realized where they were going to. He cursed under his breath and gripped in his pocket for his half of the two way mirrors. If that’s what they were doing, he needed to let James and Remus know that they were on their way to Hogsmeade as the Map would no longer find them. He flattened himself into an alcove to avoid anyone bumping into him unknowingly and whispered into the mirror for James.

The glass shimmered, but instead of James’ mildly annoyed face, he got the inside of his pocket, where at the top sliver he could see Remus’ side. Why wasn’t James answering? But then he could heard a muffled conversation. So, they’d found McGonagall - and Filch. No time for the mirror then, they would just have to use the mirrors and hope that Sirius was in a predicament to answer.

Sirius pushed the mirror back into his pocket and inched closer, trying to hear what they were all mumbling about. 

“It’s just a trial run, Mulciber.” That voice was unmistakable.  _ Rodolphus Lestrange _ . Rumor had it that he was trying to impress Bella. Shuddering, Sirius pushed any thoughts of that awful pairing into the darkest recesses of his mind. His absolutely batshit crazy cousin and one half of the most annoying recurring ‘play date’s that he ever had.

“Can we just get it over with? We’re back here in a few weeks, so we can look for the bloody thing then.” Regulus sounded  _ bored _ . Sirius snarled, wanting to throttle him where he stood. He hadn’t wanted to believe it as he’d sincerely hoped that Reg would turn things around and see the insanity that he was becoming apart of. 

“And are you going to be the one to sneak around late at night and risk being caught when the castle is full of people, Black?” Clenching his fists, Sirius resisted the urge to hex Severus Snape. He sometimes believed that he could honestly kill the slimy git without any damage to his conscience. 

“I swear you lot are a fucking joke. People like Malfoy are out there in the midst of the real work and you’re worried about fumbling about a school?” Regulus snapped, and then pointed his wand at the mirror.  _ How did he know about the passage? _

One by one they all slipped behind the mirror and Sirius watched as Wormtail ran in with the last person. Sirius glanced around quickly before grabbing the mirror again and pulling off the invisibility cloak. “James, you twat, answer me.”

James’ face appeared in his mirror, with a look of defeat. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll explain later. Where are you?”

“Check the map, Prongs. I’m in front of the fourth floor mirror passage.”

“Buggering fuck, Prongs, let’s go.” Remus mumbled from behind James.

It took them a few minutes to get to him, but when they did Sirius was ready with a quick explanation so that they could go after the Slytherins.

“Why didn’t you go with them, Pads?” Remus asked, putting his hands on his knees to steady himself. They must’ve run all the way there.

“You were supposed to follow them,” James added.

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the both of them and yanked them towards the passage. “It’ll take them nearly half an hour to get to the other side anyway. I can catch up to them in half that time as Padfoot. They came in this way, not by the train. I overhead Regulus, Rodolphus, Mulciber, and Snape. There’s something here that they were looking for.”

Remus held out his wand to the mirror and the three of them darted into the dark passage themselves. “What was it?”

“Dunno, but it’s apparently important and looks like it has to do with the shite in the papers. Reg mentioned that Malfoy is out doing the real work?” Sirius shrugged, handing the cloak to James and cracking his shoulders in preparation to change into his dog form.

James spat at the mention of Malfoy. “Well, we tried to tell McGonagall, but she wasn’t exactly buying it…”

“So James showed her the map.”

“What was I supposed to do, Moony? She didn’t believe that twelve students had snuck back into the school.”

Sirius’ eyes were wide. “You showed her the map?”

Remus sighed. “We’ll deal with it later. Let’s just figure out what they’re up to, yeah?”

 

It didn’t take him long to catch up to Wormtail and the rest of them. The rat climbed up onto his back panting and was making a great squeaking monologue in his ear. Probably cursing him for leaving him on his own. None of that mattered because as they crept behind them and underneath of Dervish and Banges, the twelve of them weren’t alone anymore. 

Both of them transformed back into their human selves and exchanged glances.

“You know who’s voice that is, right?” Sirius whispered.

“I reckon so.” Peter looked absolutely pale. “It’s hard not to recognize.”

Raising an eyebrow, Sirius drew his wand and leaned closer to the well that they had crawled out of. “Sounds like she’s scolding them for not getting whatever it was.”

“Any ideas?”

“None that are good.”

“Is that Bellatrix I hear?” James whispered from behind them, finally having caught up. 

Sirius nodded, turning toward them. 

Remus reached up and grabbed Sirius’ hand, giving him that look that told him not to do anything rash. He simply squeezed Remus’ hand back and then swallowed. 

“Well, we found them. Now what?” Peter mumbled. 

“I’m not exactly sure McGonagall believed us,” James began. “So, I don’t think anyone is paying attention. And they’re definitely siding with that mad Riddle bloke if they’re coming back to report to Bellarix.”

“I can hear something about muggleborns.” Remus edged up closer, looking weary. 

“They would be out for muggleborns. They’re pureblood doxy shite is all that matters.” Sirius looked back to James. “Alright, Head Boy, what now?”

 

This definitely had not been their best idea. Sirius had no clue where anyone else was and found himself flattened against the back wall of Honeydukes trying to catch his breath. He’d just managed to give Avery and Mulciber the slip and he at least wanted to be able to breathe without blood pouring from his nose and into his mouth. The worst bit was that he hadn’t the foggiest clue where the other three were. Peter had probably changed back into a rat. Remus was most likely still with James.

And he’d had the brilliant plan that he was going after Regulus. What he didn’t expect was that the idiots they had prepared for the four Gryffindors to follow them. Sirius cringed and peeked his head around the corner.

_ Regulus _ .

It was about bloody time that he’d found him. As his younger brother rounded the corner, he swung around and grabbed him by the front of his robes. Slamming him into the side of the building, Sirius pinned his wand arm’s wrist to the brick wall and growled.

“You absolute fucking twat, Reg. What the fuck are you doing?”

Smirking, Regulus gripped the collar of Sirius’ jacket with his free hand. “I’m doing what you should be! There’s a war going on and we’re trying to make our mark!”

“By doing what? Parading around an empty castle at night?”

“The Dark Lord-”

This made Sirius burst into laughter. “ _ The Dark Lord?  _ Have you gone off and joined a cult? You’re so caught up in all of this blood superiority shite that you don’t even know which way is up, do you?”

“The Dark Lord ordered us to find something inside Hogwarts. And if you had any sense, you’d use what little status our name gives you and join us before -”

“Fat chance for that, Reg. Do you even hear yourself? Merlin, you sound insane. You sound like our father.”

“The Noble and -”

“If you continue that sentence with any mention of ‘ancient’ or ‘loyalty’ I might actually vomit. We never believed in any of that!”

Regulus shook his head, and pushed to get away from Sirius, but Sirius readjusted. Instead he pressed his forehead into his. “You left me there, remember? I’m doing what I need to. It’s called self-preservation.”

With that, Sirius stepped back and without thinking, took a swing, connecting with Regulus jaw. “I begged you to come with me! Don’t you ever tell me I fucking left you.”

“Sorry if I didn’t want to partake in your muggle-loving, halfbreed fucking -”

“Bring him into this and I swear, Regulus, I swear I do a lot more than make you spit blood.” However he knew that Remus was a werewolf, he’d deal with that later.

As Sirius went to grab Regulus’ robes, the younger Black put one hand around his neck.

“Now, now, boys.” At the sound of the overly nasally and sickeningly high-pitched voice, Sirius involuntarily gagged. “That’s no way to act like brothers, but I’ll show you what is.”

Without letting go of the front of Regulus’ robes, Sirius craned his neck away from him and looked to his left to see his cousin, Bellatrix, with one hand around James’ neck and the other holding her wand to his throat. 

“Don’t do anything stupid, Pads.” James shouted hoarsely, eyes wide with fear and blood trailing down his forehead and onto his jacket. He was completely wrapped in tight ropes, bound by Bellatrix’s wand.

Tensing up, Sirius pointed his wand directly at Bellatrix. “Either let him go, Bella, or I swear to Circe I will curse you.”

She laughed louder, pressing her cheek into James’, making him cringe. “Let Reggie-dearest go and I’ll try not to kill Potter.”

“I’m warning you, Bellatrix.”

“Aw, poor Sirius. Ickle baby cousin trying to play in the big leagues? Think you’re all tough because you ran away?”

Sirius’ eyes were lit with fire at this point and he pushed Regulus behind him.

“Bellatrix, let’s just go. This isn’t funny.” Regulus mumbled, trying to push Sirius out of the way.

“To hell if you think you’re going off with her, Reg.” Sirius blocked him by putting an arm out.

“We’re playing a game, Sirius!” She howled with laughter. “Choose between the brother that’s your blood or the one you replaced him with. Those are the rules.”

He spat, locking eyes with James who swallowed and then glanced right.

Just behind Bellatrix and James, another figure was creeping up slowly, wand extended. Sirius gasped as Remus stepped into the torchlight of the alley, his nose pissing with blood, lips thinned in fury. By the time the woman, only a few years their senior, with her wild black curls realized he was there, his wand was already pointed to her cheek.

“Let him go or I’ll curse you, Bellatrix.” Remus’ voice was low, nearly a growl. He didn’t dare take his eyes off her, not even to look over at Sirius.

“Remus, no!” Sirius yelled, panicking now.

“You must be my dear cousin’s pet, then!” She grinned over at him. “You don’t look like a big, bad wolf, do you?”

“I assure you, he can be pretty fucking feisty when he wants to-” James started before the long, pointed nails crushed harder into his windpipe.

“Shut up, you arrogant little blood traitor.” Bellatrix shook him and dug her wand into his skin, still not looking away from Remus. 

“If you don’t believe I’m that much of a challenge, let Potter go and finish me off, then.” Remus sneered.

“Remus, please!” Sirius pleaded. He didn’t know what had come over him, but it was scaring him. Remus was the one who was supposed to talk them down, be diplomatic, and not do idiotic, rash things like this. That was Sirius’ job.

“Shut up, Sirius.” Remus took a deep breath. “Going to back down from a seventeen year old, Bellatrix? I thought you were better than that.”

“Fine, have it your way.” She smirked and took her wand away from James before smashing him into the side of the brick building, and then letting him fall. 

Sirius’ hands shook as he watched his best mate crumble to the ground, glasses cracking and bouncing off of the pavement. He shook his head, feeling like he was going to throw up. 

“Let’s see what you have, Lupin.” Bellatrix laughed, pointing her wand up and him.

Instead of responding, though, Remus pulled out Sirius’ ring attached to its chain from underneath his shirt, flashing it about at her. He was bloody taunting her! Sirius’ eyes went wide as Remus gave her a smirk. He was trying to get a reaction out of her.

_ Distracting her. _

Shuffling silently as Bellatrix’s back was turned, Sirius yanked Regulus alongside him as he reached out towards James, pulling him to their end of the alley by his left shoe. 

“Where did you get that?” She yelled, head cocking to the side.

“Was a gift.”

“It’s meant for the intended-”

“The betrothed. Don’t be so soft, Bellatrix. Go on and just say it.”

“How dare you.” 

“You realize any spell you cast on me will have less of an effect while I’m wearing this, right? Considering you’re wearing yours.”

She looked at her own ring, displayed proudly on her finger, but this gave Remus an opportunity. Sirius watched in fear as he flicked his wrist and hit Bellatrix with something that knocked her back. Shakily, he lifted his wand to go after them, but Regulus grabbed him and pointed his own wand at him.

“You can’t keep trying to have everything, Sirius.” Regulus kept a face like stone, letting no emotion show as he cast a stunning spell on him, forcing his knees to buckle beneath him and fall on top of James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part two of the four chapters that all intertwine. 
> 
> I know, I'm a terrible person at the moment. It's a week late, but I've caught up to myself and I needed this chapter and the next to fall in line with one another. 
> 
> As always though, thank you all so much for your support. It means the world to me and I'm so grateful. Please, feel free to find me on tumblr: jprongsx!


	22. Saint Potter and the Imaginary Transfiguration Essay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is worried that Lily sent the bracelet back to him and spends way too much time obsessing over a flaw on the fourth floor corridor. The chapter in which Filch confiscates the map and James Potter nearly loses it with McGonagall.

He awoke when a great brown and red owl landed on his back and dropped not only a small parcel wrapped in red paper, but a very lively and terrified field mouse.

“What the bloody fuck?!”

James Potter screamed with all the dignity of a naked unic emperor. His arms flailed as he turned in his sheets, twisting the tiny creature and the overstuffed lump of feathers into his duvet. Three heads poked out of two separate four poster beds to gape and gawp at the commotion.

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house every creature in the Head Boy’s bed stirred until the owl caught the mouse.

 

“It was  _ not  _ funny.”

“Prongs, you squealed louder than Peter’s cousin, Mafalda, when we set fireworks off in his mum’s sitting room!”

“Mate, he  _ squeaked _ at a higher pitch than that bloody mouse.” Remus corrected Sirius.

“Lucky Pete sleeps in human form, otherwise it’d be two bloody mice!”

“Oi, watch it!” Peter said with a frown.

“I fucking hate you lot.” James folded his arms onto the table in the Great Hall and then rested his forehead on them.

“Did you even open the parcel?” Remus asked.

“Not yet. It’s McKinnon’s owl, so I’m guessing it’s from her and Evans.”

“Probably Lily returning the bracelet.” Peter coughed into his milky tea.

“Prongs, mate,” Sirius said with his mouth stuffed with half of a piece of toast, using the other half to point at James. “You seriously got Evans a bracelet?”

“Wormy, you bastard. It’s called a secret for a reason.”

“Secret jewelry? Really?” Sirius nudged James with the toast point, before shoving it in his mouth, so that he’d look back up at them.

Narrowing his eyes, James looked at the sliver of gold he could see beneath the collar of Remus’ sweater. “Shut it, Pads. I’m not the only one who gifts secret jewelry.”

Remus’ cheeks went beet red.

“Moony, it’s no use hiding it. We all know about your new promise ring.”

“It’s not a  - “

“You gave it to him and promised to only shag him now. It’s a fucking promise ring.”

“A family heirloom, actually.”

“It could be a family arse hair for all I care, you’ve no room to wind me up.”

Someone cleared their throats from behind them and all four sat bolt upright. No attempting to figure out who that was. They’d all been on the receiving end of her throat-clearing more times than countable.

For the most part, they’d spent the day doing their normal shenanigans. Peter had scuttled off to get some Honeydukes, Remus and Sirius had been making some disgustingly obnoxious noises from Sirius’ bunk, and James had sat in the common room taking turns between staring at a certain corridor on the map, quidditch strategy, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay that was due the first day back after the holidays.

At about eleven, Sirius stumbled down the stairs with swollen lips and the air of someone who’d just been shagged out of his mind. It was all he could do just to snort and cock a brow in his best mate’s direction.

“Y’alright there, Padfoot?”

With a wink, Sirius flopped onto the cushion next to him. “Absolutely bloody brilliant.” He did a quick once around the common room before smirking. “Thanks for letting us have the dormitory to ourselves for the day. It was, er, desperately needed.”

He shoved his shoulder and fake gagged. “Well, you only announced after lunch that if you didn’t get to shag Moony soon, you were going to resort to more ‘serious measures, pun intended’.”

Sirius chuckled and bit his lip. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Fuck’s sake. Can he even walk?” After a pause, the both of them lost their breath from laughing and James shook his head. “Lucky  _ you’re _ able to get off. I’ve been having a wank in the Head’s bath all week.”

“Still on your dry spell while waiting on Evans?”

“Shut it.” 

Sirius nudged the small parcel next to James. “You  _ still _ haven’t opened it?”

He picked it up and fumbled with the corners of the red paper. “Kinda afraid she sent it back and just called me a toerag or summit.”

With a sly smile, Sirius propped his feet in James’ lap. “Doubtful, mate.”

James sighed and finally broke open the taped end, pulled out the small box, popped the top, and grinned. Inside was a framed picture of him holding the quaffle in one arm and swatting a bludger with the other. On the back was a handwritten note in Lily’s handwriting:

_ You always do too much. Thank you. Love, Evans. x _

Sirius snatched the picture away from him with a look that said he’d be mocked for weeks on end over this. “This is right before you got knocked out.”

“I’m aware.”

“It’s the match where you broke your nose and - “

“Point made, Sirius. Give it back before I shove it up your arse.”

Peter entered through the portrait hole at the completely wrong moment and groaned. “He doesn’t  _ need _ anything else up his arse.” He glared at Sirius. “You’re not exactly great at remembering to put a silencing charm on the sodding bed.”

Scoffing, Sirius shoved the picture into James’ chest and bounded over towards Peter, chasing him up the dormitory stairs mumbling about arse bandits and the places a rat could fit.

 

“What exactly are you going to tell McGonagall?” Remus asked as they followed the professor’s name across the map and towards her office.

“Haven’t figured that one out yet, mate,” he said, chewing on his lip in thought.

“You’re going to wing it, aren’t you?”

“Kinda my plan at the moment.”

“You may want to improvise.” Remus handed him the map, which showed Argus Filch drawing dangerously close. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” James glanced around, but there really wasn’t anywhere to go and they’d left the cloak with Sirius. “Well, we’re Head Boy and a prefect. He can piss off.”

After checking the map again quickly to ensure McGonagall hadn’t changed her route, Remus leaned over and tapped his wand to the parchment. “Mischief Managed.”

He clenched his fists and had to take a deep breath with closed eyes when he heard the raspy call of his last name.

“Potter! Lupin!” Filch snarled, hobbling after them.

Remus wheeled around first, putting on his best swotty prefect face and letting his hair fall into his glasses so that he looked all shy and innocent - which, based on the noises from earlier, he was anything but. James shuddered at the thought. “Good evening, Mr. Filch.”

“What d’you two think you’re up to at this time o’ night?”

“Rounds, sir.”

James nodded in agreement, glad he changed his pyjamas out for jeans and a sweatshirt, otherwise the gig would most definitely be up. 

“It’s winter holidays. Ain’t no one here.” He narrowed his eyes at the pair of them and James nearly lost it when Remus tried to put on a coy smile.

“Well, we promised Professor McGonagall that we’d keep up rounds while the other prefects are away - “

“What, so you lot can nick things out of the store cupboards and set fires and floods about the castle?”

“To be fair, we haven’t set a single flood  _ or _ fire this year.” James said before Remus elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“We just needed to take this to her and then we’ll be heading back to our dormitory.” Remus’ faux innocence made James want to vomit.

Apparently it just made Filch angrier. “Give it here, then. Let’s see it.”

“It’s just a spare bit of parchment.” James shrugged and was desperately trying to contain himself as Filch snatched the map from his hands. He was torn between wanting to laugh and what he knew would come next or cringing because Filch was touching their pride and joy.

Remus was definitely leaning toward the latter.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Filch shook the paper around, held it up to his face, and squinted.

James’ lips curled just slightly when thin black lines materialized onto the paper, the same familiar ones that greeted them each time they said those beautiful words. As he looked over, Remus was biting on his fingernail and shifting his eyes between James, Filch, and the map.

Without being able to read it, James knew what had happened.

“What?” Argus’ Filch’s beady eyes grew wide in rage and he swatted James’ arm with the parchment. “You two! I should hang you both by your -”

“What is it, sir?” Luckily Remus was the one deciding to do the talking. He was much better at not cracking up laughing when he shouldn’t - usually James couldn’t help himself.

“You bloody well know what it is. Insulting piece of rubbish! You four think yer so amusin’, don’t you?”

And then the indistinguishable throat clearing came from behind them and James’ lips curled on one side.

“Mr. Filch, might I ask why you’re apprehending the head boy and a prefect?” Minerva McGonagall had her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face when she rounded them and snatched the map from Filch’s hands. 

“That parchment insulted me.” He grumbled, narrowing his eyes directly at James.

“James was just telling Mr. Filch that it was just some spare parchment from our Transfiguration essay that you set..” Remus scratched the back of his neck and forced a weak smile at their head of house. James just hoped that McGonagall remembered that she hadn’t set them an essay and took the hint.

“So, am I to get this right: Yourself and Mr. Potter were conducting rounds after completing some of your homework?” She asked, arching a brow and pulling the map from Filch’s grubby clutches. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, then, Mr. Filch, if you don’t mind giving me a moment with my students?”

Argus Filch didn’t look very happy to do so, but he begrudgingly stepped to the side and investigated a suspicious looking tapestry while obviously trying to listen.

“I’m fairly certain that neither of you were scheduled for any sort of duty tonight, so would either of you care to explain what you’re doing at half one in the morning, out of bed, and doing imaginary essays?” 

Exchanging glances with Remus, they silently discussed through subtle gestures what exactly to say. Finally Remus rolled his eyes and sighed. “We were searching for you, Professor.”

With a groan, she rested one hand on her hip and gripped the map in the other, pointing it toward them. “Mr. Lupin, just get on with it.” They were just going to have to tell her. “And Potter, stop fidgeting.”

Truthfully, he hadn’t actually realized that he’d been cracking his knuckles and tapping the other hand against his thigh nervously.

“Well, you see -”

“Merlin’s sake, Remus.” James gave up. “There’s a dozen Slytherin students who’ve snuck back into the castle after having gone home and they’re mucking about on the fourth floor in front of the mirror that doesn’t always show a reflection. It’s actually a door which leads to a small passage directly underneath of Dervish and Bangs.”

Shaking her head, McGonagall brought the map up against the side of James’ head, something she hadn’t done since third year. “Codswallop. That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve heard you say all year. Get back to your bloody dorm before I-”

“It’s the truth, Professor!” 

Remus held his forehead between his thumb and forefinger and gave an exasperated sigh.

“Merlin’s wank bank.” There really wasn’t going to be another way. He half spun on one heel before saying  _ fuck it _ and unceremoniously snatching the map from a very surprised and unimpressed Minerva McGonagall. 

At this, Remus flattened his palm against his face, pulled his other arm around his robes and turned away, whispering a few insults into his wrist about James’ competence. 

Before she could say anything else, James tapped his wand against the parchments. “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good.” Before them, the ink came to life across it again, swirling and forming the castle in expert fashion. 

McGonagall’s eyes widened and her hand dropped from her hip as she leaned closer to to map while James unfolded it. 

“As I said, fourth floor. There’s twelve of them.”

“How did you-?” Still in a bit of shock, her face went pale as she pursed her lips together, scanning the section James had unfolded. “I’m not sure what you’ve created-”

“It’s a map-” Remus began.

“Of the castle and grounds,” James finished. 

Straightening back up, she shook her head. “Well, as impressive as it appears to be, I believe the construction is flawed. No students have returned to Hogwarts yet that hadn’t stayed for Christmas. It’s impossible.”

“The map never lies,” James and Remus said in unison.

Filch hobbled back to them, pointing at the map. “Bloody rubbish that is. Did it insult you as well?”

With a quick reflex, Remus tapped the map with his own wand. “Mischief managed.”

“See!” Filch ripped the map from James’ fingers and shoved it into his own pocket. 

 

It wasn’t really a matter why they were there anymore once they’d been spotted. James wasn’t exactly sure who it was that heard Peter sneeze, but as soon as the first one turned around wands had been pointed and it was four against thirteen. 

Unsure of how they’d actually gotten split up, James was leaning flat against the wall behind the Three Broomsticks trying to catch his breath for a moment. Luckily Mulciber couldn’t cast a curse to save his life, so James had been able to focus more on the other two that had tried to duel him. If he was counting correctly, he’d stunned the one that had hexed Sirius, petrified Mulciber, and watched Remus hit Avery with a hurling hex so strong, he’d passed out. That left nine and Bellatrix. 

He’d actually bet money that Sirius had gone after Regulus and considering Peter was nowhere to be found, he’d likely bet that Peter had scampered off as a rat somewhere.

Running a hand through his hair, he adjusted his grip on his wand and rounded the corner slowly, squinting through his glasses as if it was going to allow him to see further. When he heard Remus’ voice, James took off at a run in the direction of Honeyduke’s.

Ahead of him, he could see flashes of light and James really didn’t want to think what that could mean. He was just hoping that Remus was giving them a good run, but he had no doubts in him - it was Sirius that worried him. Sirius, who could be rash and resort to a hex first and ask questions later method, which at least half the time earned his a fair bit of trouble.

James didn’t really get that much time to think though as the flower pot just to his left exploded. By the time he looked up there was a shorter figure with a black cloak and some sort of animal skull mask heading toward him and causing destruction in her wake. Even if he couldn’t see her black curls under the mask, he’d know it was Sirius’ cousin, Bellatrix, just from the way she walked.

He ducked into the doorway of the Three Broomsticks and sent a flurry of jinxes in her general direction. He could hear where a few of them hit other things along the high street. 

“What’s the matter, Potter?” She crowed. “Afraid to duel a girl?”

“You’re not very ladylike, so I wouldn’t consider you a girl as much as I would a bitch.” With a breath he leaned out of the doorway and managed to disarm her. As much as he wanted to celebrate the small victories, it was never that easy.

The door to the Three Broomsticks opened and James, who’d been leaning on said door, fell into Rosemerta. She jumped back and covered her mouth as not to shriek. “Potter? What’s going on? I heard a bunch of noise and-”

Shoving her through the door, he slammed it behind them and spelled it shut. “You need to either arm yourself or run. Riddle’s lot is here and they’re not looking to have a bloody pint.”

Her curly blonde hair was pulled up messily and she was still in her dressing robes, meaning the commotion had most likely woken her up. There had been more than a few times where James would’ve like to be alone with her in this manner, but now was most definitely not one of them.

She stood her ground though, crossing his arms. “James Potter, you had better tell me what in Merlin’s scotch is going on or else I am going to-”

Apparently Bellatrix had regained herself and she stood grinning at them from the street.

“Run. Rosemerta, fucking  _ run _ .” James urged her before holding his wand up to block shards of glass from hitting them as Bellatrix busted the front door in with another spell, causing the window to shatter. 

“James!”

Her eyes grew wide and she pulled her coat around her as James pushed her behind the bar and towards the back door. “Get word up to the castle! Just  _ go _ , I’ll hold her off!”

He checked back once more to ensure that she had escaped out of the back door before rounding on Bellatrix and levitating a table to slam into her as she walked through what used to be the entrance. 

“Always the noble little twat, weren’t you, Head Boy?” She smirked and sent a row of chairs soaring into him. “Saint Potter has to save everyone.”

He dodged those as well as whatever curse she threw at him. “It’s called being a decent human being, but you wouldn’t know much about that, would you?” Smiling at her and gaining confidence, he hit her with a jinx that sent her tumbling backwards into a barrel of wine.

She retaliated with something that blurred his vision and he shook it off, used to not being able to see well if he forgot his glasses. Instead he kept slashing his wand, matching her pace and blocking the next few things she attempted. It was all going alright and fairly even until James was distracted by the flicker of flames out the window.

Suddenly his entire body was filled with sharp, piercing pain and James dropped to his knees. His bones felt as though they were splintering and his skin was on fire. Even when she released him, he fell to the side, shaking from the quick lack of sensation.

“You can’t be a hero if you aren’t prepared to both feel pain and inflict it, Potter. Incarcerous!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filling in some of the blanks from the previous chapter - the rest will be addressed in the next. This chapter has been the bane of my existence for the last month and a half. 
> 
> As always, thank you guys so much. It is amazing to receive so much support. I love hearing from you all!


	23. Caradoc Dearborn and a Late Night in the Hog's Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Remus bluffs his way through a duel, the Hog's Head is full with Hogsmeade residents and old friends after there are multiple attacks across the country and beyond.

He could hear his own breathing patterns as if he was in a terrarium. It was taking a lot of concentration to keep his wand steady, but as soon as he saw Sirius get to James, the entire scene before him came whirling back into place. Next thing he knew, he was bluffing Bellatrix Black and hexing her. Circe’s sake, what had gotten into him?

Sirius.

As Bellatrix looked down at her own ring, contemplating if what he said held any truth, Remus took the opportunity to shoot a curse at her. Nothing was as loud as his own heartbeat as he ducked, dodged, and blocked what she attempted to hurl at him. He’d really been hanging around with James and Sirius too much if he was acting as a distraction and doing rash things like dueling a witch who’d probably started learning dark magic since before he’d realized that he could blow bubbles into his pumpkin juice with a straw.

Trying not to focus on the three boys to his right, Remus was breaking out in a sweat - half nerves and half just the fact he’d been running around like a twat putting out fires, casting jinxes, and chasing after his best friends to make sure none of them were injured or worse.

And then he saw Regulus raise his wand and Sirius drop.

Turning from Bellatrix, Remus flicked his wand to disarm Regulus, watching Sirius’ younger brother’s wand fly off towards the other end of the alley. Enraged, he went to get back to the lunatic in front of him, but that split second was too late.

The brief disruption was enough that Bellatrix not only took the upper hand, but gained full control. Remus couldn’t scream, he felt like his body was constricting and exploding at the same time. Lucky for him, it was a fairly regular feeling and he managed to break free of her cruciatus curse and before he could throw one right back, there was someone else pushing him out of the way.

Everything was blurry as Remus fell back into the brick wall, trying to steady himself. He fumbled with his glasses, shoving them back on to see James coming to and pulling Sirius against his chest. Regulus was gone. The biggest surprise was who had come to their aid.

Stood in her best emerald coat over a night robe, Minerva McGonagall had a ferocious look about her, cutting her wand through the air and forcing Bellatrix to back up to avoid the professor getting close enough to throttle her. Before he really knew what had happened, though, Bellatrix had apparated and McGonagall was rushing back towards him and steadying him.

“Lupin…” She patted his cheek while he tried to blink her back into clarity. “Lupin? Remus, for Merlin’s bloody sake!”

He swallowed, still remembering to breath. “I’m good, I’m good.” Remus put a hand up and coughed a few times, still a bit shaken by the curse.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Nothing I haven't felt before.”

A few feet away James was pulling Sirius back to his feet, so Remus pushed passed McGonagall to throw his arms around the both of them.

With a scoff, McGonagall patted their backs and ushered them onward. “There’s enough time for your codependency later. Come along. You can join Mr. Pettigrew in the Hog’s Head.”

Sirius cupped his cheek and pulled him in for another hug. He closed his eyes tightly and wrapped his arms around him. For a few seconds, Remus focused on breathing normally again, letting his heart beat back to its normal pace.

“You alright, Pads?”

Sirius kissed his neck and nodded. “Bit dizzy, but I’m alright. Are you? After-”

“Wasn’t as bad as a transformation, I don’t think,” Remus said, pressing his lips once to his forehead and then pulling away from him.

James was cracking his shoulders and wiping the blood from under his nose. “So, uh, now we know why the fourth floor corridor was acting up.”

Glaring at him, Remus and Sirius both said, “Shut up, James.”

Expecting the Hog’s Head to have been empty, Remus was taken aback by the crowd that was inside. There was barely an open seat anywhere - a feat for the usually stale-aired pub. He recognized the owners of Honeydukes sat with Madam Puddifoot, who was patting Rosemerta on the back. Before he could really do a proper role call, though, the tall barkeep was bringing over two steins and Peter was scurrying behind him with another two.

Remus accepted a butterbeer from Aberforth and nodded to Peter, who was dorning a nasty swollen eye. Just before he went to take a swig and ultimately give himself a great foam mustache, he noticed everyone in the bar raising their glasses.

“What’s going on, lads?” James whispered as Aberforth backed off.

McGonagall joined them with her own mug full of what looked much stronger, smiling widely through her usually thin, pursed lips. She tipped her glass to them, giving them a look to join the rest of the pub.

Remus’ heart sank a bit, thinking that they were going to be praising the four of them, except that it was really their fault that all the dueling had begun. Sirius placed his hand on the small of Remus’ back, weary of the sudden attention while they looked an absolute state.

It was the barkeep, Aberforth, who spoke after the short silence. “We’ll have a drink, then, for the towns and people who weren’t so lucky tonight.”

Peter swallowed and looked down at his feet as he took his drink. Remus would bet money that he was well aware what the bloody fuck was going on.

“Have we any word from Dumbledore of Godric’s Hollow, Diagon Alley, Lime Street, or Bridgend?” A plump man that Remus knew to be Mr. Dervish stood after after everyone took a drink.

“Lime Street is still on fire, but the Ministry is working to put that out.” McGonagall sighed and then finished her drink.

“Professor, what’s going on?” Remus asked. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted the answer.

Taking a deep breath, it was Peter who spoke. “It seems that there have been attacks all over the country - and some elsewhere as well.”

“They’re targeting Muggleborns!” Mr. Dervish put his drink down. “And calling themselves bloody ‘Death Eaters’. They can all drop dead as far as I’m concerned.”

James moved toward McGonagall. “Professor, the Slytherins I told you about-”

She shook her head. Remus couldn’t remember a time where she gave them such a solemn look, not even after last year’s incident with Snape. “I’m not sure they were involved or not, but we have no way of telling who-”

“We do! The map! James, show her!” Sirius interrupted.

Remus bit his lip and mumbled under his breath. “About that…”

Sirius’ eyes went wide as he looked from Remus to James and back again. “What about it?”

“It’s found a new home in Mr. Filch’s office and that’s the last you’ll speak of it, Mr. Black. Understood?” McGonagall gave him _the look._

 _Crack_.

“Professor, Moody sent us back to tell you that the Order’s been disbursed.” An all too familiar had apparated right in front of them to address their head of house.

“Caradoc?” Remus blurted out without actually thinking, immediately feeling stupid and embarrassed. He was sure that Sirius was staring holes into the side of his head.

The tall, muscular man whipped his head around and smiled softly at him. His curly blonde hair was pulled into a knot at the base of his neck and even though his robes were a bit torn and covered in blood, Remus would argue that he’d never looked better. Before he could actually approach Remus, Sirius stepped in front of him.

“Alright, Dearborn?” Sirius narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders.

“Oh, ‘ere we go.” Peter groaned and threw his head back in aggravation.

“Actually, ‘m great, Black. Thanks for asking.” Caradoc stood up to him, smirking and letting his eyes wander to Remus.

Remus pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them with the end of his shirt.

“Enough! The lot of you!” McGonagall, who had been well aware that it was Caradoc Dearborn who’d always been Sirius’ self-proclaimed ‘arch nemesis’ - even though the lad was two years older and much, much larger, Sirius had still gone around telling anyone who’d listen that he’d beat him in a duel while blindfolded.

Remus, on the other hand, had merely gotten off with him a handful of times in fifth year.

McGonagall pulled Caradoc to the side, but luckily Remus’ hearing was a bit better than most people’s. As Sirius went to say something snarky, Remus put a finger to his lips, tilting his head a bit to listen.

Once the four of them were sat down and Remus had explained the bits and pieces that he’d heard, Peter was picking his fingernails, Sirius had his head leaned on Remus’ shoulder, and James was tapping nervously with both his hands and feet. Meanwhile Remus had both hands around his empty glass. Twelve villages and wizarding hubs had been attacked, burned down, and much worse. The thing in common with each one was muggleborns. And according to McGonagall, Bellatrix had already started fires before they’d even come out from the tunnel.

None of them had spoken more than a sigh in the last twenty minutes as the wizarding wireless played atop the bar with most of those still left in the Hog’s Head crowded around it. Various people had apparated in and out of the pub, speaking briefly to McGonagall and then they were off again.

One thing had stuck with them. _La Vallée_. Three places had been attacked outside of Great Britain and Ireland. One just happened to be a fairly popular destination for wizarding families and it was owned in part by a muggleborn witch.

And that’s where Lily and Marlene were.

Sirius was the first one to break the silence. The fact that he had stayed quiet this long was a miracle, though. Lifting his head up, he kept one arm looped around Remus’ and ran a hand through his hair to push it out of his eyes. “So, betrothed, huh?”

Honestly, he really tried to keep a straight and solemn face, but Peter looked entirely confused and the audacity of it made James completely lose it. Once he did and Remus could feel Sirius’ smile on him, he shook his head, feeling his cheeks burn. “Shut up, Sirius.”

But Sirius looked up at him with those grey puppy eyes and said, “Well, you’re the one that said it.”

“What the fuck did I miss while I was getting McGonagall from the castle” Peter raised a brow.

James was now laughing so hard that he was leaning across the wooden table, causing glances from the remaining Hogsmeade residents.

“I had to distract her somehow, you arse. She had James.” Remus planted a kiss on his forehead.

“You could’ve at least asked me.”

“Technically you-”

“Lily!” James jumped up, nearly knocking Peter off his stool and clearing the length of the bar. She looked about as rough as they did.

From behind her, Marlene rushed over just as Remus and Sirius got to their feet. She threw her arms around both of their necks. He was just relieved that they were safe. Remus pulled her in tightly before actually looking her over.

“You okay, Marls?” Remus asked, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as Sirius squeezed her close to him.

Marlene smiled softly and shrugged, taking a step back. “Yeah, fucking bastards were a bunch of massive cockblocks.”

“That’s m’girl.” Sirius laughed halfheartedly.

There was a mess of dark brown hair bouncing towards them and luckily he had let go of Marlene and didn’t have a drink in his hand. A pint sized blast from his past lept into his coincidentally open arms and wrapped her legs around his chest.

“Merlin, Cas!”

“Remus, I swear you’ve grown a foot since I left Hogwarts. When did you get so tall?” Dorcas Meadows absolutely beamed at him.

“Summer after fifth…” He started, but then set her down and elbowed Sirius. “Pads, are you seeing this?”

Sirius looked up, grinned, and did his most obnoxious whistle with two fingers in his mouth.

But Peter was the first one to say it. “It’s about bloody time!”

“You going to come and snog me like that too, Evans?” Sirius winked over at them.

Remus elbowed Sirius in the ribs to leave them be, smirking as James put one hand in Lily’s hair and threw two fingers up very rudely with the other.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Sirius scoffed dramatically.

“You look about as good as that right now, mate.” Frank Longbottom clapped a hand on Sirius’ shoulder and gave Remus a nod. He took in the differences in Frank since last year - aside from the shining auror badge that he’d traded his prefect badge for.

“Alright, Frank. I don’t see you for eight months and this is the greeting I get?”

“S’what you deserve.” He winked at him.

“No need to be hostile, Longbottom!” Sirius rolled his eyes and reached for Remus’ hand.

The Hog’s Head was filling up quickly with witches and wizards of all sorts - some that Remus recognized and others he didn’t. At some point Alice had joined Frank and allowed Lily and Marlene to gush over the large diamond weighing her finger down. The Prewett twins had apparated directly behind the bar and startled Aberforth so bad he’d broken a shelf of mugs. Dorcas and Marlene were complimenting each other on dueling skills. Caradoc had come back with a bloodied up Kingsley Shacklebolt and together they held up Edgar Bones’ unconscious body. Remus noted how weird it was not to see Matt McDonald with them as well. They’d been nearly as inseparable as his own quartet of miscreants.

McGonagall saw to them all in turn and Madam Pomfrey had come down to tend to Edgar and eventually checking them all over - mainly fussing.

The last two to come in were Dumbledore and an absolute bear of a man that he recognized to be an auror from a recent photo in the Daily Prophet. The auror - he was pretty sure his name was Moody - was bickering with the headmaster in hushed breaths while Dumbledore merely smiled and shook his head.

Remus just couldn’t pinpoint what all of these people had in common other than having defended against tonight’s attacks. But why had they come here, to the Hog’s Head? Granted, the ones he was familiar with were all arguably talented individuals, but where did they string together? Caradoc played for Falmouth, Frank, Kingsley, and Alice were Aurors, Dorcas wrote for the Daily Prophet, and Edgar worked in Magical Law. The whole idea of this made Remus scoot his chair closer to Sirius’, who was more than happy to make a show of putting an arm around his shoulder to mark his territory from Caradoc Dearborn. He wondered if SIrius even remembered that James hadn’t been the only one to find their way into an empty classroom with Dorcas Meadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the last chapter that I'll be messing about with the timeline - it was just those four. 
> 
> Again, thanks a ton for the support. You are all amazing.
> 
> There's only a handful of chapters left, BUT, I'll be starting on the post-Hogwarts sequel soon ('Mistakes We Knew We Were Making' - brownie points if you get the Straylight Run reference)


	24. Chiseled Jawlines and Hogwarts' Most Wanted Tosspot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily finally gets a moment alone with James only to be interrupted by Sirius, who barges in on them accompanied by Remus, Peter, and Marlene to figure out what they should do following the attacks and their newfound knowledge of the Order of the Phoenix.

Truly, she hadn’t spent a lot of time in the Head’s Study. Lily didn’t much fancy being on her own lately, so she normally stuck with Marlene in the dormitory or went to the library. It was a nice space though, covered in scarlet and gold on both sides - although she figured if both her and James hadn’t been Gryffindors, one side would have different colors. And there was a large floor to ceiling window that overlooked the lake where there was a bunch of cushions. With only a few months left at Hogwarts, Lily wished she had actually come up here more often.

On the bright side, because she hadn’t really been known to stick around in the study, it served as a perfect meeting spot. After the previous night’s attacks, many students were coming back a bit early as their parents feared them safer at Hogwarts than at home. The original plan was to sleep in and talk about it in the morning, but when she’d gone down to the common room, it was bustling with over half of the Gryffindor students who had gone home for Christmas in the first place. A good number of them were the children of ministry workers or people who were directly involved with the clean up efforts, like Marcy Dawlish, whose father was an auror. 

Since she’d slept through breakfast, the first time Lily tried to leave the dormitory again was for lunch. She walked arm in arm with Marlene, hoping that no one really knew how involved they had been. She just wasn’t ready for that kind of attention after everything they had learned.

Finally, the door opened. Her breath hitched in her chest and she stopped pacing back and forth to catch James Potter’s smile and how reflected in every part of his face - including his hazel eyes which were looking more brownish than ever this afternoon. 

“You’re late.” She crossed her arms, waiting for him to shut the door before she did anything else.

“You try being Hogwarts’ Most Wanted and not getting stopped every few minutes by professors and students alike.” James took a deep breath, locked the door behind him, and rushed over to her.

Lily nearly melted right then when he slid his thumbs just in front of her ears and rested his hands against her neck, leaning down and kissing her for the second time in twenty four hours. This time, though, she was actually able to drink it all in. From the way his hands were calloused due to playing quidditch, to how - much like his hugs - he put every piece of himself into the kiss, to the way she could feel his heart beating quickly as their chests were pressed together.

In the last year, Lily Evans had learned that not only was James Potter an attention-seeking, aware-of-his-own-talent, arse, he was an incredibly giving, kind, and passionate person. All six of those things played out in his kiss even down to the way that as she pulled her lips away, he grinning and chased after them. She shook her head and backed up a bit, entwining their fingers as she plopped down onto the cushions in front of the window and pulled him down next to her.

“Alright, Evans, easy there.” He laughed and pressed a soft kiss to her jaw. 

Rolling her eyes, Lily pushed the hair away from his forehead a bit to glance at the bruised gash by his hairline. “You should really get Madam Pomfrey to look at this and heal it.”

James shook his head, pulling her wrist down. “She’s had a lot of other, far worse injuries to look after.” 

His sleeve had ridden up to his elbow, which caught her eye and she saw a welt that looked like it was from a rope. Lily grabbed his arm gingerly and pushed his sleeve higher up, gasping. “Merlin, James.”

“It’s nothing. They’ll fade.”

“They? There’s more?”

His face reddened as he nodded. When she gave him the worried look, he sat up a bit and pulled his sweater over his head, leaving him in just a white t shirt. She could see three of these welts on each arm and it made her feel ill. “What in the bloody hell happened to you?”

“Bellatrix Black.” He bit his lip. “She bested me in a duel.”

“That’s vague, Potter.”

He forced a small smile and took a deep breath. “I told you we’d seen a bunch of Slytherin students on the fourth floor -”

“With the map that Filch confiscated.”

“-And we’d gone after them to Hogsmeade. The four of us got separated and I ended up dueling Bellatrix in the middle of the Three Broomsticks, which is why the whole place is a mess.” And he finished telling her the rest of the story, much to her horror.

“This is going to be normal for us now, isn’t it?”

He nodded, still smiling. “If what Dumbledore told us about the Order last night is true, then yeah, I guess this is going to be normal.”

Lily moved closer and leaned her head on his chest, but when he winced she sat up quickly and put on her best disapproving mum stare. “Where else are you injured?”

“It’s the same injury.” 

“Let me see.”

He cocked a brow and laughed. “Are you just trying to get me out of my clothing?”

Cheeks flushing, she scoffed. “Sorry that I’m actually concerned about you.”

As she went to lift up his shirt, he swatted away her fingers and just pulled the whole thing off. Other than the welted lines running from arm to arm across his chest and stomach, Lily was feeling extremely warm all over. James didn’t let that bit slip passed him.

“Well, at least I know that you still find me insanely attractive.” He winked and pulled her in for another kiss.

“Who ever said that I found you insanely attractive?” Lily pushed him back against the cushions, put a leg on either side of him, and slid a hand up his chest.

When James bit his lip, she thought she may actually melt right there. “Evans, I-”

“Prongs!” Why could she hear Sirius Black’s voice?

“Bugger all.” James groaned and started digging in the pocket of his trousers, hand dangerously close against her inner thigh.

Keeping him pinned to the floor, Lily sat up and crossed her arms. “Really?”

James held up a finger to her before pulling a small mirror out of his pocket. At first she thought he was just being extremely vain, but then the mirror started talking.

“Mate, where are you?” It was definitely Sirius’ voice and she was definitely going to kill him.

With a pained expression and kiss-swollen lips, James sighed. “I’m a bit busy right now, Pads.”

“Why are you shirtless?”

“You’re such a twat.”

“Are you - are you with Evans?!”

That was it. She grabbed the mirror from him and wasn’t exactly surprised at this point when instead of her reflection, it was Sirius grinning back at her.

“Alright, Evans?”

Glaring, she looked from the mirror to James, who was now covering his face in defeat. “You can have him back later when - “

“Are you in the head’s study? Brilliant. Give me like five minutes.”

“Fucking hell, Padfoot!” James snatched the mirror back, but he was already gone.

“He’s not…” Lily demanded.

“Oh, yes. He is.”

“James Potter, you tell him that he had better not even think about it.”

“There’s no telling him that he can’t do something. He’ll just want to do it even more.”

“Well -”

“Evans, shut up.” James cupped her cheeks and kissed her again.

Just as she was finding a rhythm against his lips, they could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door. Aggravated, Lily pushed herself to her feet. James put his white t shirt on before getting up himself and opening the door, letting SIrius, Remus, Peter, and Marlene come flooding inside to crowd the small study and flop across various surfaces.

“This had better be good.” Lily groaned and leaned sideways into Marlene who was now sat beside her. 

Before anyone else could speak, though, Remus chucked the Daily Prophet onto the floor in front of them while he and Sirius leaned against the desk. “Thirty eight people are missing. Two are dead. Caradoc owled a bit ago - oh, sod off, Sirius - to say that Edgar has woken up, but he’s still pretty rough. I know it was brought up last night, but we need to be realistic.”

After grumbling under his breath a bit, Sirius continued for him. “I’m all in if you lot are. I won’t stand by while my relatives run a muck when there’s people out their fighting.”

James nodded, putting a hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “You all know I’m in.”

“Yeah, you shouted that much at Dumbledore when he told you to go back to the castle rather than follow the Order members.” Marlene snorted.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Peter asked, fooling with the edges of the newspaper from his spot on the other side of Marlene.

“Stick together.” Lily chewed on the inside of her lip as Marlene rubbed her back. “If we go to McGonagall as a united front and tell her that we want to fight with the Order of the Phoenix, how is she supposed to stop us?”

James started laughing, first softly, but then it turned into proper belly laughs. “I think she’s intended that much the entire time, Lily.”  _ Lily _ ? Since when was she ‘Lily’ in common conversation? “During the career meetings... As soon as I said I was chucking the idea of playing quidditch and told her I’d rather look into be an auror or something, she just smiled and told me to have a biscuit and be on my way.”

Remus nodded. “I was talking to her about my complete lack of job prospects and she told me that I needed to just focus on coursework and she’d make sure I had something.”

“You never told me that.” Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“Wait,” Lily said, sitting up straight. “Lack of job prospects? Remus you get ridiculously high marks in everything, what - “

James shook his head and cut her off. “Not the time for that discussion.”

Lily was extremely confused about what they were talking about and couldn’t help but stare as Remus’ face reddened and he bit his lip when Sirius pulled him in close.

“Lily, didn’t you say McGonagall told you the same sort of thing?” Marlene asked.

“Yeah, I remember you saying at breakfast that she wasn’t even phased when you told her you weren’t interested in being a healer anymore.” Remus fidgeted nervously into Sirius’ side.

“You can’t think she’s been considering us for the Order of the Phoenix all this time?” Could she have? Lily thought about the career meeting and how vague and short it was. “Sirius, Marlene, Peter?”

“I told her I still planned to be a kept man.” Sirius smirked. “She asked if I’d discussed it with Remus yet.” When Remus elbowed him, he laughed. “That was before, well, you know. Anyway, she mentioned that she felt I had larger things to come on my horizon. I figured it was just a load of bollocks.”

“She asked me a lot of weird questions and that was it. My meeting lasted all of five minutes - if that.” Peter nodded and looked over at James.

“Marlene?” James asked the only one of them who hadn’t said anything about their own meeting.

Marlene shrugged. “I told her that I still had time to decide between quidditch, curse breaking, or both. And she said that she agreed and would look into something for me in the interim.”

“Cheeky little minx!” Sirius snapped his fingers. “She planned this.”

“I doubt she planned the attacks, you tosspot,” James said and shoved him lightly.

“Well, no. But she scouted us.” Lily thought about it for a moment and it really did make sense. “Benjy said something similar about his meeting.”

“Oh, here we go about bloody Fenwick.” James threw up his arms and it was adorable that he was getting worked up about Benjy fucking Fenwick in competition with himself.

“Chill, Prongs.” Sirius put his other arm around James, something Lily had become all to used to since staying with the Potters. They were always touching in some way.

Remus snorted and raised an eyebrow. “Speak for yourself, Sirius. Anytime I mention Caradoc you have a twitch - there, you did it again. Caradoc. Caradoc. Cara-”

“You really do, Padfoot.” Peter grinned, the tension easing in his frame a bit with laughter.

Marlene giggled in that way that she knew entirely more than she was letting on, which she usually did. “Who  _ didn’t _ snog Caradoc Dearborn at some point?”

Brows furrowed, Sirius grumbled more about Caradoc Dearborn before Lily cleared her throat. “Enough about jealousy. I don’t care who snogged Caradoc or - oh, for heaven’s sake, Sirius!” She threw one of the cushions at him, not admitting that she too had snogged him in fifth year. “We’re not going to just sit around and wait to be asked. I say we argue our point. We proved ourselves savvy enough with wands to warrant being a part of Dumbledore’s sodding order.”

Peter nodded, standing up tall. “Well, we have meetings with McGonagall next week, right? To discuss our progress before N.E.W.T.s, yeah?” When everyone agreed, he continued. “We could just stage a group skive-off and she’ll realize pretty quickly. A bunch of us coming together saying it sounds a lot more convincing doesn’t it?”

“Just the six of us, though?” Marlene asked.

Sirius shook his head and took a deep breath. “There’s a few others I’d bet a few galleons that are in the same boat as we are. Lily, you said Benjy, right?”

“Mmhm.” Lily tried to figure out where he was going with this.

“Who else can we actually trust with it?” Sirius looked over at James who shrugged.

Remus smirked and shifted his eyes across all of them. “I have a  _ really _ bad idea.” Once he had their attention, he reached over and picked up the picture of Mary, Lily, and Marlene from behind him on the desk. “It’s been nearly a year since we lost Mary.”

Her eyes went wide and she grinned, quickly standing up. “Remus, that’s bloody brilliant.”

“Anyone care to fill a bloke in?” James had the most confused look across that chiseled jaw - fuck’s sake, she couldn’t stop herself, could she?

Remus took a deep breath. “Anyone willing to come out to remember Mary would be an excellent start. From there we can bring up the attacks and get a feel for people.”

“And then we’ll know who to clue into skiving on the N.E.W.T.s meetings.” Peter gave Remus a loving dig to the arm.

“Exactly.” Lily caught James’ eye. “Let Marlene and I handle the gathering for Mary.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may have noticed that it now says 24/28 chapters. There's four more planned chapters of AOBM, but there is a follow up in the works as I've mentioned before. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's read this far. It means so much to have the support and get the messages and comments. I love speaking to all of you on here as well as tumblr.


	25. Bloody Noses and the Privilege of Brotherly Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In between N.E.W.T.s study and Order research, Sirius somehow manages to find time for both confronting Regulus and getting alone time with Remus.

The drinking vigil for Mary MacDonald had gone swimmingly. All of the Gryffindor and most of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sixth and seventh years - at least the ones whose parents hadn’t pulled them out of Hogwarts - came out. From those, they discovered that seven more students were given the same sort of ‘career meeting’. Benjy Fenwick, Hestia and Cerys Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Emmeline Vance, Dirk Creswell, and Edgar Bones’ sister, Amelia. 

That made a total of thirteen students who were currently sat in the Transfiguration Courtyard waiting for McGonagall to storm out of her office. Sirius was lying in the courtyard with his head in Remus’ lap and his feet propped up on Marlene’s thigh. So far, he was ten minutes late for his meeting with McGonagall. .

Sirius glanced over at James, whose foot was nervously tapping away. It almost made him laugh that his best friend couldn’t sit still for a single minute. If he had any gold in his pocket, he would’ve bet Peter a galleon that James actually had quidditch strategy notes hiding in that Charms book. And then there was Lily. Nervous Lily meant she didn’t shut up, so she was rattling away to Marlene and braiding Hestia’s thick, curly hair into a crown. He’d been the biggest bannerman for them for years now and seeing them a few feet apart stealing glances nearly made his heart melt as quickly as the boy beside him.

Remus flicked the end of his cigarette into the grass behind them. “You’re sure it was at noon?”

Sirius lifted his sunglasses and glared up at him. “Yes, I’m sure..”

Remus pinched Sirius’ side, making him accidentally kick Peter.

“Oi, stop your damn quarreling! You’ll make James jealous that he’s not getting any attention..” Peter laughed and swatted at Sirius’ leg.

“Shut up, all three of you,” Lily hissed, “here she comes.” 

James coughed and quickly inhaled the last drag he could manage of his cigarette before Lily was ripping it out of his hand and smashing it out behind them.

And there she was, fists in her robes so that they didn’t drag the floor, walking like a bloody woman scorned. “Mr. Black!”

“Alright, Professor?” Sirius smirked up at her, not moving.

“I believe we had an appointment, did we not?”

“I kinda figured a career meeting was null and void at this point, y’know?”

“I beg your pardon?” She let her glasses fall to the tip of her nose.

“I’m joining the Order.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

“Yep.” Sirius said, nodding.

“We all are,” said James.

“And you think you can just up an join, do you?” McGonagall turned to James, eyes narrowing, but giving them the same look she tended to when they showed off in class.

“Yeah, we do.” James shrugged.

“Reckon you’ll need all the help you can get.” Sirius cracked his knuckles, trying to find something to do with his hands. 

McGonagall threw her hands up, now desperately trying not to at least smirk. “If you want to help that badly, I’m sure there is quite a bit of research-”

“Research?” Lily jumped to her feet. “ _ Research _ ? With all due respect, Professor, but we’ve proven-”

“Nothing. You’ve proven nothing until you've completed your N.E.W.T.s. And for you five,” McGonagall nodded to Fenwick and the others. “I’m sure Professors Sprout and Flitwick would agree.”

Sirius exchanged glances with James before brushing himself off and standing with Lily. “Professor,” he said, noticing that she still managed to make a smile look somehow disapproving. It was something that Remus had mastered around the same time as getting his prefect badge. “I think we’ve beyond  _ proven _ ourselves.”

“Wonderful. Then I’ll give Madam Pince the booklist Dumbledore asked me to and let her know to be expecting you.” Now McGonagall simply grinned.

“Wait, what?” Remus asked from just behind Sirius.

“You heard me, Mr. Lupin.” Picking her emerald robes up a bit so they didn’t drag the ground, she turned to James. “And Mr. Potter, you’re fooling no one with that Charms textbook. I’ll expect your proposed practise schedule by dinner.”

“Yes, ma’am.” James cleared his throat and shut the book quickly.

 

This was not the glory and danger that Sirius had been anticipating. In fact, the most perilous thing that had happened so far was Dirk Cresswell opening a book about the magical creatures of Albania, which had caused both him and Peter to start choking on the cloud of dust that was inside.

The constant research and studying for N.E.W.T.s was exhausting. They had all either been absorbed in their current volume or actually bored to death that when James suddenly fell into his seat, it startled the whole group.

In a much less dramatic fashion, Marlene sat on the other side of Remus and opened the same book on counter curses that she had closed four hours ago when her and James had left for practise. Sirius had definitely envied them when the two of them had announced they were getting out of the library for anything more than a loo break, but when it had started storming, he didn’t feel so left out.

“Prongs, mate,” said Sirius. “You’re dripping on the table.”

Lily scowled, using the sleeve of her cardigan to wipe down the water and then swatted at James when he tried to kiss her cheek.

“Well, it’s fucking chucking it down out there, and -“ James started.

“And arsehole wasn’t going to cancel practice with the final match against Slytherin coming up.” Marlene laughed, finishing his sentence a bit differently than James would’ve.

“Well, you’ve not missed much, other than Sturgis having a kip on that book about mystical objects,” Remus said with a yawn and leaned his head into Sirius’ shoulder.

Shifting and putting his arm around Remus, Sirius planted a kiss into his sandy blonde curls. He slid a leather bound volume to James. “You can have this one. I don’t think I can actually read another word without my fucking eyeballs falling out.”

Peter looked up and then nudged Sirius to look outside at the moon. The clouds were covering it, but he could definitely make out the moon almost completely full by now. 

He nodded back at Peter and rubbed Remus’ back. “Alright, Moons. If I stay in this damp library anymore I’m going to develop hives. You need to take me back to the dormitory.”

“Piss off, Pads. If anyone is going back it’s-” James began, but yet again someone cut him off.

“I think if anyone is going back it’s going to be me. I have rounds in a few hours.” Remus laughed, sitting up and pushing his quill and parchments back into his bag. 

“I rearranged the schedule.” James caught on to Sirius wrinkling his nose and shifting his eyes towards the window to get his attention.. 

“You did?” Lily flung her book on Banned, Illegal, and Otherwise Highly Dangerous Potions closed. “When?”

“Now.” James smiled over at her stupidly. “Remus can have my Wednesday night and I’m taking his tonight.” 

Sirius knew damn well James would pawn that Wednesday night off on someone else, but didn’t speak up. Instead he stood and snatched the strap of Remus’ bag and pulled it over his own shoulder. “Well, c’mon then.”

Benjy rubbed his eyes and shook himself from a history book on Gellert Grindelwald. “I vote we all call it a night. Everyone is dead on their arses. I don’t think we’ve got actual work done in the last hour.”

“Seconded.” Amelia chimed in.

“Alright, alright. If we turn in, that’s fine, but...” Lily paused, looking around.

Sirius knew what she was looking at. There were bags under everyone’s eyes and he doubted anyone’s notes were even legible. 

“C’mon, Ging. Let’s just call it.” James waved his wand so that all of the books dog-eared their pages and stacked up neatly in the center of the table. 

Twenty minutes later and Sirius had offered to carry Remus twice already. Watching him drag himself up the stairs wasn’t easy. That’s why the minute Remus realized he’d forgotten his jacket, Sirius offered to run and get it. He’d just made it up all the stairs and nearly to Gryffindor Tower. It would be cruel and unusual punishment to force him to walk back.

It was times like these when Sirius really wished he had the fucking map. Sirius had to be extra careful as he was neither a prefect nor a saint, so being caught out of bed meant questions he couldn’t be bothered with waking McGonagall up to answer. He ran a hand through his hair so it would stop falling in his face. If he could just turn into Padfoot and get there much quicker.

Much to his dismay, someone rounded the corner ahead of them, their gold prefect badge shining over their emerald robes.  _ Regulus _ . 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Sirius whispered. Given the choice between dealing with Regulus and Filch, he might actually choose Filch. 

Cocking that signature overarched Black brow, Regulus rounded on him and Sirius swore that he saw his hands shaking.

“What’s a swotty prefect like yourself doing in a place like this?” Sirius grinned at his little brother.

Regulus’ blue eyes met Sirius’ grey ones and other than that difference, the two were mirror images. Well, except Regulus was as stiff as a bloody board. “Prefect rounds.”

“Is that why you and your band of arseholes aren’t expelled?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sirius.”

Sirius forced a laugh and stepped closer, forcing Regulus to either step back or grow a pair. “I’m surprised you’re not off nipping at Lucius Malfoy’s coattails. From what I hear, he’s thrown his hat in with Riddle’s lot.”

Regulus rolled his eyes and reached for his wand, making Sirius sneer. “You’re one to talk about nipping at coattails. I think this is the first time all year I’ve seen you without Potter, Lupin, or Pettigrew.”

“They’re called  _ friends _ , Reggie.” Sirius smirked coldly, holding his stare even though he’d lost the height advantage at some point in the last two years. “But you wouldn’t know very much about that, would you?”

“Is that so?” Regulus didn’t back down. “You know our family is calling you a blood traitor now, right?”

“Good. I hope they are.” 

“You can still come back.”

“And you can still leave.” Sirius bit his tongue and refrained from balling his fists. He was not going to lose his calm today. 

“What? Abandon our family and-”

“Tell me something, Regulus.” Sirius rubbed his chin. “Does he still hit you?”

“Excuse me?” His younger brother’s eyes went wide and he pulled his wand from his robes.

Sirius pulled his own wand out of his pocket and twirled it in his hand. “Does he still hit you with the belt? Or has he moved up to the cane yet?” Regulus went silent and Sirius barked a laugh. “I don’t understand why you’re still doing anything for them, Regulus. They care more about their status than your well being.”

“It’s none of your business anymore now, Sirius. You lost that privilege when you left.”

“Bollocks. Being your brother isn’t a privilege. Have you read the papers? They’re  _ killing _ people. You think I want that for you?”

“They’re not going to kill me.”

“I wouldn’t put it passed them. You  _ don’t _ have to go back.”

Regulus brought his wand to Sirius’ jaw. “Why do you keep assuming I want to leave?”

Pressing his cheek into his brother’s wand, Sirius kept his eyes on Regulus. His wand stayed down. “Because I know you.”

“Not anymore you don’t.”

When Sirius finally got back up to the dormitory, he had Remus’ jacket in one hand and a wad of tissue held to his nose. In no mood to explain any of it, he dropped the jacket and walked straight passed the five other Gryffindors and into the bathroom. He closed the door and tried doing the long inhales and exhales that Mrs. Potter had recommended. He peeled the tissue from his nose to see that it had finally stopped bleeding.

“Padfoot?” James called to him through the door. “Pads, what happened?”

After muffled voices and some bickering, it was Lily who spoke next. “Sirius, I’m coming in, okay?”

“Bugger off.” He considered locking the door, but they would get in anyway, so he just started running the water.

When she entered, he caught Remus and James sticking their heads in, but Lily quickly shut them out. “Come here, let me help.” Her green eyes were warm with that caring nature and she picked up the washcloth before he could.

“You really don’t need to-”

“Look up. With your chin and not just your eyes.” With gentle hands, Lily lifted his chin and dabbed at his nose with the cloth soaked in warm water. “There.” She stepped back and turned the faucet off. “You’re a bit swollen, but not bloody.”

He was thankful that she hadn’t just cast a scourgify on him like James would have. Turning from her to look in the mirror, he touched the bridge of his nose and winced.

“Do you think it’s broken?” She asked.

“Regulus can’t swing a right hook to save his life, so no.” Sirius couldn’t help that when he looked in the mirror, he saw his brother’s reflection at times. Now was definitely one of those times. “Thanks, Lily.”

Lily smiled softly at him and stood on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Of course, love. Want me to clear the spectators before you come out?”

Sirius laughed. “No, that’s alright. They’re only concerned.” After another deep breath, he walked passed Lily and back into the dormitory. James, Peter, and Remus immediately stood. “I’m alright, lads.”

“Who was it?” Peter balled a fist and put it into the opposite palm. “Snape? Mulciber?”

“Regulus,” James and Remus said together, both reading him like a book.

“Don’t worry, I got a good dig in as well.” He tried to shrug it off as he unbuttoned his shirt, which was spotted with a fair amount of blood, and chucked it atop his trunk.

“If I see him during my rounds-” James began.

“Then you will do nothing because I’m going with you.” Lily cut him off and hooked their arms, pulling him towards the door.

Clearing her throat, Marlene tapped Peter on the shoulder. “I think I’m going to nip down to the kitchens. Fancy it?”

Getting the hint, Peter stepped back into his shoes and nodded. “Yeah, go on then.” He glanced back at Sirius and Remus before following Marlene out the door. “I’ll bring y’ lads back summit.”

“Thanks, mate.” Once it was just him and Remus left in the dormitory, his boyfriend finally walked over with that look of concern he got anytime Sirius did something stupid. Sirius pushed his face into Remus’ hand as he cupped his cheek and ran a thumb over his chin.

“Circe, Sirius.” Remus pulled his glasses off with his free hand and kissed Sirius’ forehead once before kissing his upper lip. 

Pretty quickly, Sirius forgot about his aching face and was kissing Remus backwards onto the bed. “It’s just us in here.”

“First time in awhile, love.”

“Yes, I’m well aware.” He grinned and slid his hands up Remus’s chest. “Thanks for not asking if I’m alright.”

Remus pulled his lips away briefly to brush his nose across Sirius’ cheek. “It doesn’t matter if you’re not. I’ll make you alright.” 

Then there were lips on his neck and Sirius didn’t try to hold in the soft moan that he let out. “You’re not too tired?” 

“For this?” Remus smirked against Sirius’ skin, hands getting so dangerously close to his trousers that Sirius had to bite his lip. “Never.”

If only James and Peter could disappear every night, Sirius thought. This is how every day should end - and begin, for that matter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ffs, I know this is a late, late update. Life has been a bit crazy as of late, though. 
> 
> Thank you for everyone that has stuck with me this far through AOBM and the ridiculous amount of kind words you've all given. It means so much.
> 
> Also, HUGE thanks to Courtney for being an epic, late inning beta and motivator!


	26. Porskoff Ploys and the Inside of the Gryffindor Locker Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily Evans. On the invisibility cloak. In the locker room. Oh, yeah, and James' final match as Captain against Slytherin.

“Pads, don’t.” James massaged his brow, well aware that Sirius was just going to do it anyway.

He did it anyway. 

Sirius stood atop one of the cherrywood tables in the common room and cleared his throat. He was covered head to toe in red and gold, with one of James’ old quidditch jerseys on and a series of noise makers stuffed into the bag over his shoulder.

Remus snorted and threw his hands up when James gave him his best attempt at puppy dog eyes. “Don’t look at me. He’s uncontrollable.” Remus pointed at his own face, which was painted half red and half gold. At least Remus had the sense to stop Sirius before he charmed Remus’ hair like that too. Poor Peter didn’t anticipate the results of Sirius’ excitement so well.

“As we all know, today is the greatest Gryffindor Captain since ol’ Minnie herself, James fucking Potter’s last match.” Sirius had managed to captivate most of the common room.

“What am I, week old gravy?” Marlene shouted as she hurried down the stairs from the girl’s dormitory.

“Wait your turn, McKinnon. I’d say don’t get your knickers in a bunch, but you’re probably not wearing any!” Sirius narrowly dodged the book Marlene threw at him before continuing. .

“Hey.” Lily came up beside him and slid her hand into his. James felt a bit awkward because he was sure that his hands were clammy and rough. She didn’t seem to mind, though.

“Hey yourself.” James offered her a weak smile, digging on of his heels into the shag rug by the fire.

“Nervous?”

“Nah, just wanna get on the pitch, like.”

Sirius was still making his speech. James only really heard ‘valor’ and ‘bollocks of steel’. He wished Sirius would wait until after the bloody match for his dramatics.

“How about I walk you down?” Lily rubbed a thumb over the back of his hand.

“Yeah, alright then.”

It wasn’t that James was afraid they would lose - because he wasn’t, thanks very much. But he could hear his pulse drumming through the walls of the castle. Once he was on his broom, fifty feet above the ground, everything else would be white noise.

As she led him out of the common room, the rest of Gryffindor was either patting his back or wolf whistling at him and Lily Evans. It hit him suddenly that neither of them had actually publically addressed whatever it was going on between them. Although, that would involve them addressing it between themselves. The thought made him smirk as they started down the grand staircase.

“I wanna show you something.” They had about two hours before the match even started and an hour before he’d told his team to be in the changing rooms.

Lily quirked a brow. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or terrified.”

“Both.” James grinned and pulled her through the Charms corridor, down a set of side stairs, and then stopped her right in front of the portrait of three hags playing exploding snap.

“You wanted to show me a portrait?” 

“No.” James laughed and cleared his throat. When the three hags turned to look at him, one of the hag’s cards exploded and all three shrieked. “Alright, ladies?”

“Jaaaames!” All three cooed in chorus.

“Mind if I cut through?” He asked, leaning against the wall beside their portrait.

“No, no! Not at all.” The one on the left nodded excitedly and the portrait swung open in front of James.

“Tell Sirius and Remus that they can use the passage anytime!” Another one called after them as James grabbed Lily’s hand again as she stared in shock.

“C’mon, Ging. That’s only the first part.” James tugged her into the narrow doorway.

“Alright, I give up. Where are you taking me?” Lily stopped, running her hand over the stone wall.

James lit the end of his wand and pointed it onward towards what he knew to be a spiral staircase eventually leading to the path to the pitch. “You can’t tell me that you’ve never taken any of the secret passages before.”

“What secret passages?”

James laughed and pulled her to his chest, one arm loosely around her waist. “There’s seven that lead off the grounds and twenty eight through the castle - that we know of.”

Eyes wide, Lily’s lips twisted into an eager grin.

“What? You think I’m all fur coat and no knickers?” He slipped a thumb under the hem of her shirt and brushed it against the curve in her back. “Because that can be arranged.”

Lily failed at holding back laughter and ran her palms over his chest, buttoning the breast pocket of his flannel shirt. “What, did you bring me through your secret passage just to woo me with your castle knowledge?”

“Well, I figured if Bathilda Bagshot gets you all excited that it might earn me a bit of-” James didn’t get a chance to finish his quip because Lily had stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips into his. 

His glasses went crooked against her brow and he couldn’t help but slide his hand under her arse to lift her up against him. She was tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth and he lost all resolve. 

Trousers incredibly uncomfortable, James caught his breath and trailed light kisses along Lily’s jaw. “We need to go somewhere that isn’t a mildly damp passage.”

She brushed her nose against his and gave a soft laugh. “You have any ideas?”

“I do, actually.” He set her back down on her feet and laced his fingers into hers. James led her down that spiral staircase, from behind the tapestry, and looked back to see Lily biting her lip as they rushed down the path towards the Quidditch Pitch.

“James, where in the bloody hell are we going now? If you’re trying to shag me on the pitch for good luck, it’s a no.”

“Hadn’t even considered it, but if you’re up for it, I am.”

“No.”

They laughed a few more times before reaching the door to the locker rooms. He whispered “Haversacking” into the wood. It unlatched and James turned back to Lily, picked her up and put her over his shoulder.

“James!”

He laughed and carried her to the Gryffindor side before sitting her back down. 

“And this is better than, oh, the Head’s Study?” Lily asked, making easy work of the buttons of his shirt.

“So much better.” James caught her lips and shrugged out of the shirt as she pushed it off. 

“Did you think we were just going to balance across the bench?”

“Nope.”

“Then what?”

“Can’t you just let things happen?”

“I’m trying to think-”

“Stop thinking, then.” James moved to kissing her neck a few times before pushing her blouse up and over her head. Sure, he’d seen her in a bikini over the summer and while he definitely had saved that imagery for lonely nights, it didn’t hold a candle to this. His eyes followed the line of her clavicle to the center of her chest and down her navel. He wanted to map her entire body - needed to, really.

Lily’s heart was beating into the vein in her throat and there was a flush  that had appeared in her cheeks while he had taken a moment to appreciate her body.

“You’re incredibly beautiful, you know.” James said it out loud before he even realized it, and felt his own face grow hot. 

Her slightly swollen lips curled and she pulled him to her again, her fingers going to his shoulders. Lily followed what remained of the welts left by Bellatrix Lestrange’s magical ropes with a gentleness that James had only seen between Remus and Sirius. 

The barely-there touch set his skin aflame and he broke the kiss to brush against her jaw as she moved to the button on his trousers. Once they were at his ankles, he kicked them aside, shook off his shoes, and continued to drag his kisses to her chest. James wanted to plot each individual freckle and beauty mark, memorize them better than he had done the strategy and plays for the match later.

Lily ran her fingers into his hair and James dropped to his knees in front of her, kissing and sucking from just under her chest down to her stomach. Each time he breathed against her skin, vanilla and mint filled his senses. Funny, cause he’d always imagined that she’d smell or taste of strawberries.

She surprised him a bit when she moved her hands from his hair to behind her back and James gave her a wicked smirk once he realized what she was doing. Once her bra dropped to the floor beside him he felt his breath hitch while he took in the sight of her breasts, just barely above eye level. James stood again, afraid he’d started sweating as if he was standing at the mouth of a volcano.

Okay, sure, he could push her into the lockers, but then the handles would probably hurt her back. Blimey, she’d been right that the bench was too narrow. He hadn’t exactly thought this through, which was odd being that he tended to be the strategist of the group. It didn’t matter. Fuck. And the floor would be cold.

But, he had the cloak.

Tearing his eyes from her for a second, he swallowed and grabbed his trousers to pull the cloak from the pocket. He could hear her giggle nervously behind him, but he unfolded and flung the cloak onto the floor. 

“Did you have all this planned, James Potter?” Lily winked, kicked off her shoes and dropped her skirt.

“For once, no.” James laughed, and grabbed her wrist, pulling them both down onto the cloak. 

Once she was next to him, leaning on her elbow in nothing but a pair of frilly panties, James decided he could spontaneously die right now and would do it gladly with a smile.

Without further hesitation, he put a hand to her chest and pushed her onto her back so that he could climb on top of her. Her cheeks were still red, but she bit her lip and James swore she’d never looked more beautiful. 

He kissed her once, and lips still against hers asked, “Are you okay with this?”

“James!” She covered her face with one hand and turned her head a bit, giggling again. “Of course I am! Merlin, it isn’t my first time or anything.”

“I’m offended!” James winked down at her and then kissed her again, sliding his tongue across her bottom lip “Was it Fenwick? I’ll kill ‘im.”

She shoved him playfully while he moved to nip at her neck. “I am so not discussing this right now, Potter.”

“Alright, Evans.” He leaned up and looked over her once more. “Fuck, you’re just-”

“Beautiful.” Lily stuck her tongue out. “You already said.”

“That’s enough cheek from you.” He moved to her chest so he could kiss, nip, and suck every bit of it. James silently hoped he at least left a mark or two so that when she undressed later she’d remember all of this and smile.

She let a high pitched moan escape her and used her thigh to pull his lower half against her as she arched up. At this point, he lost it.

Discarding every last stitch left, James returned to her and shivered when she didn’t hesitate to wrap her hand around him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he very nearly collapsed on top of her.  Instead, he braced himself with one hand by her shoulder and used his other hand to brush her inner thigh and then rub soft circles over her that made her arch her back and slap a hand over her mouth to stay quiet.

As soon as she was melting under his touch, James positioned himself and hovered above her. Her green eyes were wide as she gasped and grinned at the same time, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. It was like lighting off everything Zonkos had at once and then jumping from the astronomy tower. Lily dug her nails into his shoulder more with each thrust until he reclaimed her lips.

James pulled one of her thighs up to his waist so he could push deeper into her. Panting and moaning beneath him, Lily kissed him hard once more and then let her head fall back. He slid a hand underneath of her and kept a rhythm until he finished.

“That was…”

“Fucking brilliant.”

“Exactly.” Lily sat up against her elbows and reached for her wand to do a quick scourgify. James couldn’t help but continue to look at her in awe. 

There wasn’t much time to lay around afterward, so they redressed quickly. James figured there was no point in putting his clothing on just to take it back off to put on his kit, so he pulled on his quidditch trousers, a white t shirt, and his pads. As he turned back to Lily, she was flattening her skirt and staring at him.

“What? You’re looking at me like you’re going to be the one to call me beautiful now.” James squared his shoulders and bit his lip.

“Yes, James, you’re very pretty.” She teased him and then grabbed the goggles around his neck to pull him to her so she could kiss him again.

As they snuck back out of the locker rooms with their hands still entwined,, the very distinct throat clearing came from pathway ahead. James broke away just to stand like a deer in the headlights.

“Professor!”

“Potter!” As usual, McGonagall tried to look as displeased as possible, but there was just something about her pursed lips that told him otherwise. 

“Um, well, I’ll just be going, then.” Lily stammered and stepped away from James with her face as red as her hair.

“Miss Evans, would you accompany me up to the stands?” McGonagall asked, adjusting her hat.

“Yes, professor, absolutely.” Lily quickly ran her hands through her hair, which had more than it’s normal number of flyaways and frizz.

“And Mr. Potter, Miss Evans…” She waited for them to both look at her before allowing them to glimpse her smile. “Next time use a silencing charm..”

Just as a very red-faced Lily turned to walk to the Gryffindor stands with McGonagall, Remus and Sirius rounded the corner. James was too busy being absolutely mortified to even squeak out a greeting.

“Oi! Where in the bleeding hell have you been? You missed my whole fucking speech!” Sirius pointed at him, cigarette hanging from his lip. 

“He means that he’s been searching for you for nearly an hour.” Remus shook his head and passed his cigarette to James, who accepted it graciously.

“I, well, I was here.” James shifted uncomfortable and took much too long of a drag.

“You look freshly fucked.” Remus was so matter of fact that it caught James off guard and caused him to choke on the smoke.

“Merlin’s soft core erotica, you do!” Sirius beamed and slapped his thigh. “Details, Prongs.”

Still choking and coughing, James scrubbed his face with his hand as Remus patted his back.

“With Lily?” Sirius ruffled his hair.

“No, with the bloody giant squid, you knobhead.” James swatted them both away.

“Well, I’ll give the  _ giant squid _ your regards when I sit next to her during the match.” Remus winked and grabbed Sirius’ hand to pull him towards the stands.

James took a deep breath and then went back into locker rooms to wait for the rest of the team. He couldn’t help but smile back on the last hour.

 

“Alright, let’s keep the Hawkshead tight today; you know that Slytherin is going to play dirty - they always do. And Marls...” James paused and looked to his left at Marlene. Her long blonde hair was braided and thrown over her shoulder. She had been uncharacteristically quiet. “Break Regulus’ nose.”

The corner of her lips twitched and she nodded. “Aye aye, captain.”

“Wood!” James shouted, tying up the front of his quidditch robes. “I’ve got your bloody Hogsmeade tab for the rest of term if you don’t allow a single goal.”

“I’ll do me best, but I’m not sure even you could afford me tab!” Robbie Wood winked.

The locker room roared with laughter and James took a breath. “Alright, you lot. For some of us, it’s our last match. So let’s go out there and act like it.”

“Merlin, Potter. I thought you’d have a fucking speech prepared!” Wood laughed again and James smiled, knowing full well that they had grown accustomed to the elder Wood’s Captain speeches being more than lengthy in previous years.

The laughter and light-hearted aire was gone twenty minutes into the match, though. After a solid Porskoff Ploy put points up for Gryffindor, James had merely seconds to see the state of the pitch. He caught Marlene striking a bludger at what seemed to be directly behind him, but as he whipped around, he saw it hit Mulciber just as he was about to hit the other bludger.

“Nice one, McKinnon!” He shouted and then leaned into his broom and sped off to right wing Gryffindor’s other two chasers, Neil Johnson and Lowri Vane. Candice McNair had the quaffle and he was going to be sure to knock her off her broom. It was bloody quidditch, so the social concept of not hitting girls didn’t exist. Everyone had overheard her go on about her brother getting in with the ‘right lot’. 

Candice, the Slytherin fifth year chaser, was more concerned with watching Regulus shoot after something above them, so James squared his shoulders and rammed right into her. Candice dropped the quaffle and Lowri snatched it before it could fall a foot or more.

The entirety of the  Slytherin stands roared with accusations of blatching, but James grinned and swung his broom around to block for Lowri as they crossed the pitch to the goals.

“And ten more points to Gryffindor!” Gwynnog Jones was commentating. She had been the only thing the Hufflepuff team had going for it this year when Gryffindor rolled over them. He quite enjoyed her side comments and hoped she got a few digs in on behalf of her sister. 

“Potter!” Without turning his head, he knew it was the Slytherin Captain, Ioan Avery. He was as predictable on the pitch as he was in Hogsmeade that night. That valley accent gave him away every time. James flew closer to Lowri before spinning his broom so that Avery collided with him.

“Have you lost the sodding plot, Avery?!” James took a shoulder to the chest and then threw his hands up with every intention to play just as dirty as they were. “Madam Hooch!”

“Play on, Potter!” Madam Hooch, the tiny sprite that she was, flew straight past them in favor of calling a foul on Regulus for grabbing the end of Johnson’s broom. “Penalty to Gryffindor!”

James shot Avery a wink and took off towards the posts again to watch the penalty shot.

Another twenty minutes later and James looked to be needing to buy Wood firewhiskey until June. Sebastian Summerby was circling above the stands looking for the snitch. He gave the Gryffindor seeker a quick nod and then caught a reverse pass from Neil Johnson. He didn’t even make it ten feet before a bludger hit his shoulder with all the wrath of McGonagall when James set the Slytherin tapestries aflame in fourth year.

“Buggering fuck! Merlin’s mother fucking wondersnatch!” James wasn’t even sure if he actually shouted anything that wasn’t profanity. He swore, cursed, and hollered the entire way to the post, gripping the quaffle with the arm not in agony.

“And with a nasty shoulder injury, Potter scores for Gryffindor!”

A quick glance to the Gryffindor stands made him smile. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were both leaning over the rail shouting abuse at the Slytherin team. But it was the sight of McGonagall and Lily waving their arms around frantically in the row above, argueing with Madam Hooch about a foul - now that gave him a laugh. And the icing on the cake was at the top of the stands. Both of his parents waving him on, even if his mother looked red in the face enough to implode.

“James!” Marlene called down to him. “You good?”

“Never better. I want both Regulus and whichever manky Slytherin beater hit that knocked off their bloody brooms. Got it?” He gave her a wink and then moved his shoulder around to crack it.  

Within minutes, he’d snaked the quaffle off of Montague after a bit of sneaky cobbing. James soared to the goal posts and scored his fifth goal of the match. As he circled back around, he made sure to fly close to his mates so that he could hear them cheer. It was a nice ego boost to hear his name so loudly - and a nice change from the hassle that they normally gave him for no other reason than their own amusement.

“AND POTTER SCORES ANOTHER ONE FOR GRYFFINDOR!” Gwynnog squealed. “It’s the Gryffindor Captain’s last match and he’s dead set on going out in style!”

James craned his neck and squinted through his goggles at the score. Ninety to nil was fucking brilliant. 

Marlene darted back in front of him and protected him from a bludger - but she had that look. On the pitch, he loved that look. It meant she had formulated a split-second plan of destruction and that it was all over from here. 

It was magnificent. The crack of Regulus Black’s noise resounded like a canon throughout the pitch, stands, and, quite possibly, ricocheted  as far as Hogsmeade. James wasn’t sure if it was a light rain or tears of joy and pride falling down his cheek.

This may as well have been the best bloody day of James Ignatus Potter’s fucking life thus far.

Before he heard Gwynnog’s commentary on the matter, James heard Summerby screaming - and not because there was a pompous Slytherin seeker being tended to on the ground after he’d passed out and had to be caught by Mulciber before he fell off his broom.

“And McKinnon has knocked out Slyth- BLIMEY! SUMMERBY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!” Gwynnog Jones was just as excited as everyone else not wearing emerald.

James raised both of his arms in triumph as Marlene flew into him and threw her arms around him. 

The spectators had begun singing Persephone Pennysnodget’s ‘Once a Lion’ like a hymn. Sirius could be overheard above everyone with his wand to his throat, singing ‘James the jammy giant git got gobs of gold and good…’ before McGonagall swatted him with her banner.

He pulled Marlene into a hug and kissed her temple before flying at a dive towards the ground.. “WE WON THE BLOODY CUP!” He wailed himself hoarse when his feet planted firmly into the grass. James grabbed Summerby’s hand in congratulations as Johnson and Wood hoisted him up on their shoulders while a sea of scarlet began to form around them.

Wood was welling with tears so James placed and hand on each of his cheeks and kissed him too. “You gave them a fucking shut out!”

“Y’ owe me so many lagers, Potter!” Wood smashed his forehead into James’.

“Bloody right I do!” 

“And you put up more points in a Cup match since ol’ Minnie in ‘53!”

“Brilliant, he was! We all were!” Lowri jumped on James’ back and ruffled his hair. 

“Couldn’t ‘a done it without McKinnon knocking out Black in that last minute!” Summerby pumped his fist in the air, still sitting like a king as the rest of Gryffindor stormed the pitch.

 

From out of nowhere Lily lept into his arms and kissed him. “You were amazing!”

“See, we should’ve had sex before matches all year and it could’ve been this entertaining,” James said, whispering into her ear.

Lily smacked his shoulder, but grinned. 

Remus and Peter caught up to him next, both pinching him and messing up his already windswept black hair. They were both singing and carrying on with a dance that involved them twirling around on each other’s arm like a bunch of capuchin monkeys given caffeine. 

To his left Marlene was lifted above the crowd on Sirius’ shoulders and he spun her around while she screamed that she was going to be sick. As always, Sirius didn’t listen.

Not even McGonagall stopped them when someone lit some fireworks and another student exploded a small paper mache snitch in mid air that sent red, gold, and silver confetti raining over them.

James set Lily on the ground and kissed her again. Nothing could ruin this moment.  _ Nothing _ .

“James!” Peter shrieked, grabbing a handful of James’ quidditch robes and pulling him to turn around.

Eyes wide and breath caught in his throat, James let go of Lily and pushed through a few people in between him and Peter to help him lift Remus. Each time a fleck hit his skin, it was singing and hissing. Red marks had begun forming across Remus’ nose, cheeks, head, and hands like angry freckles.

“Give me your sweater, Pete!” James pleaded.

Peter nodded and ducked out from under Remus’ shoulder for a moment to unbutton his sweater, shivering in just a tshirt, and thrusting it over Remus’ head.

“We’ve got you, Moony,” James starting rushing Remus out of the crowd, thanking Merlin that everyone was more focused on the celebration than what James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were doing carrying Remus Lupin under the tarps of one of the stands.

Remus coughed, tensing to try and keep from emitting any sound that would let onto how much pain he was in. As James sat him on the first landing of the Ravenlaw stand, he pushed the sweater off of him and looked at his shaking hands.

“Fuck.” James knelt beside him. “Pete, go find Sirius.”

“But…” Peter started.

“NOW,” James roared.

“I’ll be alright, Prongs.” Remus winced. “Really.”

“I’ll kill Snivellus. It had to have been him. I’ll-”

“James? James, where did you go?” Lily came up the steps and James stood, making to head her off, but she covered her mouth to hide the look of horror on her face. “Oh, Circe! Remus!” 

Remus slumped and James could see his shoulders twitching as he tried to keep himself calm. He never let anyone see him cry.

“Just go back with everyone else. I’ll come find you later.” James begged, trying to push her back down the stairs.

At the bottom of stairs, he heard muffled noises and then Sirius darted up the stairs and dropped to Remus’ side, checking him over. “Fuck. Moony, who would do this? Why would someone put silver in it? It’s not even Gryffindor colours!” 

“Peter what’s going on? Why did Sirius run off like that?” Marlene was trying to shake Peter off of her arm as she attempted to follow Sirius.

James scrubbed a hand down his face and took a deep breath. He’d spoken too soon about the best day of his life. This was not going to end well. 

Lily continued to try and shove past the arm James had around her, but then she stopped and stepped back. James watched her put the pieces together right in front of them. “Oh.” She nodded, straightening up. “You’re a… a… Remus, you’re a w-”

“I’m a bloody werewolf, yes.” He sighed and leaned into Sirius.

“All those times you… I should’ve known.” 

Marlene had made it next to Lily, and cocked a brow, nodded, and then joined Sirius at Remus’ side. “Let’s get you back to the dormitory.” She pushed the hair out of Remus’ face, offering him a soft smile.

Peter threw his hands up in defeat and shifted his eyes between James and Lily.

“And you three knew?” Lily looked up at James as he stepped to the side to block her view of Remus.

“So what?” James let go of her as if she were a leper. “He’s a werewolf. So what? He’s still Remus and he still my best mate. If you’re just going to stand there and gawk, you can fuck off. And if you try and out him or do anything to compromise him, I’ll do what it takes to stop you.”

“James, mate…” Peter tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but James shrugged him off.

“Say anything against him and we’re through, Evans.” James tried his damndest to make his face look like stone. “He comes first and he always will. You got that?”

Her hands went to her hips and her shock turned to the signature Evans glare. “James Potter, if you think for one minute I would  _ ever _ -” Lily took her index finger and poked him hard in the chest. “-think anything less of Remus-” And she poked him again, harder, forcing him to take a step back. “-then you have another-” Again. “-bloody-” Another poke. “-thing-” And one more poke. “-coming.”

“Lily, I thought…” James didn’t finish his thought because she had sat down next to Remus and pulled him into a hug. Stunned, he rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so this is a long time coming. I know I've been slower on updates, but adulting happens. 
> 
> As usual, thanks to Courtney for being a fab beta and dealing with my slowness and to the wonderful Elena for telling me to just post the damn thing and stop second guessing it.
> 
> And also thanks to you guys for still reading it. Sunday marks a year since I started writing AOBM and it's crazy all the messages and support I've gained from everyone. Two more chapters to go!
> 
> If you enjoy it, find me on tumblr: jprongsx


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